Don’t just sit at home and moan to your friends if you know people illegally fishing, do your “civic duty” and report them.This was the shared view of most Senators as they debated a new law to double the fines for illegal fishing offences.Members of the Upper House agreed on the importance of protecting fish stocks, but stressed the need for the people to “speak up” as there were a limited number of fisheries wardens.Under the Fisheries Act, people are banned from taking certain fish and using certain fishing methods in protected zones; while restrictions are also placed against the importing and exporting of fish.The maximum fine for breaching the laws is to be upped to $50,000 from $25,000 under The Fisheries Amendment Act 2011 unanimously passed by the Senate yesterday.Introducing the amendments, Junior Environment Minister David Burt said the proper management of Bermuda’s fish stock was “vitally important to our economy”.Senator Burt explained fishermen, restaurants, glass bottom boat operators and dive boat operators all relied on fish.Government Sen LaVerne Furbert said: “This requites the cooperation of the public … the legislation can only be successful with the public’s help.“If the people know this fisherman is doing this or that fisherman is doing that then they need to speak up to assist the wardens.”Sen Furbert said there were currently four wardens, but Government was looking to hire two more.PLP Senate leader Kim Wilson gave her support. She said she enjoyed boating, snorkelling and fishing with her family.She said: “The public are fairly aware of our marine ecology and our ecosystem.“The high penalty should serve as a deterrent …. but the general public need to help police the area on behalf of Bermuda.“The public need to do their civic duty, they need to do their part to help save our very fragile and marine ecosystem.”Independent Sen Walwyn Hughes said everyone needed to be “fully aware of the risk to the marine environment”.Using cod fishing off Newfoundland as an example, he said that “even the biggest fisheries can be destroyed out of nowhere”.Sen Hughes said: “This is a big job. The Island may only be 20 square miles of land but we have more than 200 square miles out there to the north.“If people see things that are amiss they should report them not just moan about them.“We have to work together to be careful with our fish stocks.”Sen Hughes added that it was important for the public to be made aware of law changes. He said: “So much of what we do, the public just doesn’t know. More time and money needs to be spent to make the public aware.”OBA Sen Craig Cannonier said he was encouraged the change was being made, but questioned why penalties were not as high as $250,000, which had been implemented in a white paper six years ago.He said: “I understand it is very, very difficult to police and manage. My concern is that there are not many wardens to work around the clock day and night. They face a lot of challenges.“I’m pleased with the progress we have made here, but we need to police it better.”Sen Cannonier added that it was “a very volatile situation” as “everyone is trying to make a living in light of the economic condition”.He then suggested the idea of tagging caught fish so wardens can visit restaurants and see where the stock has come from.OBA Senate leader Michael Dunkley said whether the new law would work “remains to be seen”.He said: “My concern is how we’re going to make sure people adhere to this new law. Wardens are very overworked a lot of the time.“The legislation is all well and good but how do we expect it to be enforced? What are we going to do to make sure people adhere to it so it doesn’t make a mockery of what we are trying to do?”Sen Dunkley used the example of the ban on cellphones while driving saying he could walk outside the Senate and see “someone driving and talking on a cellphone within 30 seconds”.Independent Sen Joan Dillas-Wright said she supported how the Act shifted power from the Ministry to the Fisheries Council as they “had the expertise in this industry”.She said: “I’m someone who loves fish and supports this amendment and the protection of Bermuda’s waters.”Government Sen Jonathan Smith said the amendment would protect commercial fishermen and the environment at the same time.To contact fisheries wardens with any information regarding illegal fishing or the catching of protected species, members of the public can call the new fisheries hotline 705-FISH (3474).