Government has pledged "broad public consultation" on the future of fishing in Bermuda.

The long-awaited draft Sustainable Fishing Strategy is due to be tabled before Cabinet this legislative session, but Government would not comment yesterday on whether this includes longlining.

Although there was no announcement in the recent Throne Speech, Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney announced the possibility of new legislation this week.

"The extent of last summer's fish die-offs, locally and regionally, illustrates the potential vulnerability of marine and fisheries resources," he said.

"During the coming Parliamentary session, Cabinet will be asked to approve the release for broad public consultation of the draft Sustainable Fishing Strategy document, thereby opening the way for future legislation.

"The strategy is a bold one that takes account of such wide ranging themes as the need to reconcile sometimes competing interests in a common resource, and the implications of the progressive effects of climate change and ocean acidification on fisheries policy and legislation."

Mr. Blakeney added: "It also defines the future shoreside facility at Marginal Wharf as a public-private partnership aimed at adding value to the local catch and fishery by-products while redefining marketing and quality standards for fish caught within Bermuda's Exclusive Economic Zone."

Government last year announced plans to build a shoreside landing facility to revitalise the commercial fishing industry in Bermuda.

Planning officials then gave the go-ahead to a fish processing and storage centre earlier this year.

Situated at Southside in St. David's, it will offer ice, fuel, bait, fishing gear and supplies, plus freezer facilities, to serve as a staging post for high seas vessels heading into Bermuda's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The development, on land at Marginal Wharf to be leased from the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, will also provide marketing and export support for "large pelagics".

In a letter to Planning on November 10, 2008, Environmental Protection director Fred Ming said Government had been "committed to the development of a shoreside landing facility for commercial fishermen" since the 2005 White Paper.

The 2007 Throne Speech then made "a specific commitment to advancement of commercial fishing".

Dr. Ming said: "The facility will provide important economic relief/assistance to the established inshore fishery.

"However, it is essential to the development and success of an offshore longline fishery within Bermuda's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone."

The new fishing facility is the first of two proposed centres, the second to be located in the West End, at South Basin Wharf in Dockyard.

Government has repeatedly refused to discuss with this newspaper whether it is considering introducing longlining. However, a spokesman told The Royal Gazette in February that Government would seek public opinion on the issue.

Government first began exploring the feasibility of commercial longlining with trial expeditions into the EEZ with a US vessel, Eagle Eye II, in 2007. The results of the experiment are expected to be included in the report before Cabinet.

Environmentalists are opposed to longline fishing as they say it is harmful to wildlife. While it has little destructive impact on bottom habitats compared to other techniques such as bottom trawling, the hooks in the lines result in by-catch.

Seabirds, turtles, marlin and sharks are just some of the casualties. Lines can be 80 to 100 km long, containing tens of thousands of hooks.

There is also concern locally that if longlining is introduced, the endangered endemic cahow could be attracted by the bait.