A good deal has been written in recent days about the experimental long line fishing project being undertaken off the Island by the US fishing boat Eagle Eye II.

Long line fishing, in which fishing boats trawl using long fishing lines with hundreds of hooks, has sparked a good deal of controversy around the world, not least because of the problems of "by-catch", especially of turtles, but also of seabirds.

The Environment Ministry has now answered a good many of those concerns, noting that the boat used weighted lines which reduces the risk to sea birds, and that this particular vessel has pioneered techniques to save turtles that are caught. A quick Internet search confirms the findings, and also shows that Eagle Eye II>has been at the forefront of partnerships between fishermen and environmentalists to ensure that there are no side effects to commercial offshore fishing and that such fisheries are sustainable.

The latter point is particularly important. Bermuda rightly blazed an environmental trail when it banned fish pots in the early 1990s when inshore fish stocks were in severe danger. But this decision also hurt local fishermen and if a viable alternative, such as offshore fishing can be found, then that is all to the good.

What has to be done, though, is to make sure that such a fishery does no harm and is sustainable. Catches must be closely monitored with limits set, and the number of licences issued must be carefully controlled so that the fishery is self-sustaining. If those things can be done, and if it can be done in such a way that Bermudian fishermen have decent livelihoods, then that is all to the good.