People who fish for pleasure from motor boats will need a licence in future under proposed new legislation.

Introducing the Fisheries Amendment Act 2006 in the House of Assembly yesterday, Minister of the Environment said the measure would help preserve fish stocks for the future.

The regulations will only apply to people fishing using a hook and line from motor-boats as, said the Minister, these boats allow for more fish to be caught. It will not affect the traditional Bermudian pastime of fishing off the rocks.

Everyone between the ages of 18 and 65 will have to purchase a licence. Children under 18 will still be allowed to fish without one and the over 65's will be given licences for free. Both short-term and annual permits will be offered to cater for occasional and visiting fishermen.

Those holding valid licences will be required to submit data on their catches to the Ministry monthly, initially through postage-paid forms and later with the option to do so on-line.

"It's well known that for many people recreational fishing is a very stress-reducing and thoroughly enjoyable pastime. Our objective is not to diminish that experience, but to enhance it by ensuring that there are fish available on a sustainable basis to be caught," said Ms Butterfield.

"While we cannot guarantee a successful fishing trip, we are attempting to put in place a system that is fair and is not a financial burden to resource users. Accordingly, it is intended that the fees for recreational fishing licences will be very modest, so as to encourage wide participation by those people who enjoy recreational fishing."

She told the House that recreational fishing licences are already used in a number of countries including the USA, Australia and the UK. She added that the programme in Bermuda will be similar to that initiated for lobster divers in 1984, which has provided important management information. Fisheries wardens will inspect recreational vessels engaged in line fishing to ensure people have licences.

"'There is an active marine recreational fishing community in Bermuda. However, evaluating the impact of recreational fishing on fish populations is very difficult as there is currently no means of quantifying numbers of participants or the impact of their fishing activities on fish stocks. A recreational licensing programme is an essential first step in order to collect information and to provide the scientific basis to help manage fisheries improvement," she said.

Ms Butterfield said she intended to move an amendment to the bill to allow the recreational fishing licences to come into force at a later date than the rest of the bill, to allow public education before they are introduced.

The bill also provides for the introduction of a Commercial Fisheries Council to deal with the issuing of commercial licences. This will evaluate fishermen's eligibility for licences ? and fishing vessel licences will no longer be transferable.

In addition, foreign sport fishing vessels coming to the Island to participate in events such as the Bermuda Big Game Classic will need to obtain a special licence which will not permit them to sell any landed fish.

When it comes to enforcing the bill, said the Minister, another fisheries patrol vessel is already in the pipeline and the need for additional fisheries wardens will be reviewed. Fines for various offences related to illegally taking or possessing fish will jump from $5,000 to $25,000. The fine for foreign vessels taking fish within Bermuda's "exclusive economic zone" will rise from $150,000 to $1 million.

The bill will make the purchase of fish from an unlicensed source illegal and introduce the mandatory use of photo-identification cards for commercial fishermen to aid sales transactions. This move is designed to protect commercial fishermen.

Shadow Minister of the Environment said no-one from the United Bermuda Party disagreed with the principle of the bill. However, he said that there had been a lack of consultation about it. He also questioned why the recreational licence would not be attached to the vessel rather than the person. As an example, he said that if Speaker invited himself and out on his boat they would not be able to go and fish if they didn't have a licence.

"Parliament is planning a fishing tournament. Under these rules, MPs can't go because they don't have a licence," he said.

He said fishing clubs wanted to have the licences for boats, not individuals.

Later in the debate, Ms Butterfield said that she believed the majority of fishermen on the Island respected the marine environment and said that consultation had been widespread since a Green Paper on the issue was tabled in 1998. She said: "I want people to be able to fish for life."

Opposition House Leader, said that the new fines relating to sport fishing contradicted existing fishing laws. The Minister said this would be looked at when the amendment was drafted by Government lawyers.

Backbencher also asked why the fishing White Paper said that the fine for foreign vessels taking fish within Bermuda's 'exclusive economic zone' would rise from $150,000 to $2.5 million, but the maximum punishment was now being set at $1 million.

"Was it considered too high or was it not in line with fines in other jurisdictions?," he said. No reason was given for the revised figure in the House.

Mr. Barritt suggested the amendment closed the door on people being able to give their side of the story in court, if they were caught with fish from unlicensed sources but had made checks. He said he was concerned that "if it's in your possession, you are dead in the water". Ms Butterfield said Mr. Barritt's concern had been heard.