Residents in Hamilton Parish are signing a petition to get Bailey's Bay protected from commercial fishermen who they claim are leaving the area high and dry.

Neighbour Kris King said locals around the bay were incensed at the amount of fish being caught by commercial net fisherman Kevin Walsh, in particular, who was featured on the front page of The Royal Gazette last week with a huge catch of anchovies under the name of Kevin Spurling.

Mr. King said: "A lot of people living around the bay are very upset that commercial fishermen are coming here, especially Mr. Spurling (Walsh) - he is cleaning the bay out. Last week he had over five nets and he is there day and night.

"The residents have threatened to burn his nets because they are so fed up. A lot of locals go to the dock on Bailey's Bay with their children to fish, but there is nothing left. Mr. Spurling even had the audacity last week to ask if anyone fishing on the dock wanted to buy any of his catch.

"We are signing a petition, and we have about 100 signatures, to present to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

"We want Fisheries to include Bailey's Bay in its areas that are protected from commercial fishermen.

"People have been unhappy about this for years, but were afraid to speak out. It's only because of what happened last week, when he caught so many anchovies and was in the newspaper, that I decided to speak out."

Mr. King also claimed that Mr. Walsh had been catching grey snapper in his net, which is illegal.

However, last night, Mr. Walsh, denied the claims about the grey snapper, and said he knew full well they were protected from net fishing and only ever caught them by line.

He said he had fished at Bailey's Bay all his life, as had his grandfather Brunell Spurling before him.

The 22-year-old said: "I have got one net and I have only been up to Bailey's Bay once at night in this past week and the anchovies just happened to be there that night. I have been up there in the daytimes, but I hardly ever catch anything.

"I have not done anything wrong. I'm well within my limits. I have 15 feet of bait net, which is the limit for a commercial fisherman and I have not caught any grey snapper. My grandfather has fished there all his life and me all my life.

"There are not many areas left for us to fish, especially where they have clear bottoms. Everybody puts their boat moorings down, so there are very few areas where we can put the net out and get it back in one piece."

Hsaid a protection order for Bailey's Bay would not protect the fish anyway because most of the bait fish are migratory and do not go to the bay to spawn, but are merely passing through.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, John Barnes, said if the residents were unhappy they should pass their concerns on.

He added: "If everybody wants to get together and petition the Minister to consider declaring Bailey's Bay a protected area they are free to do so.

"I know about Mr. Spurling (Walsh), he's an experienced net fisherman and it's a dying breed.

"He's very much within his rights to do it. He has to go where the fish are. There are so many bays that are protected from net fishing now - but Bailey's Bay isn't.

"As for the claim about the grey snapper, if that was true, we would have something to pursue."