Clearing a few things up on the new Fisheries Regulations.

The 1990 Fisheries Regulations (which were not even being enforced) are no longer being used in Antigua and Barbuda and we have new rules pay attention to. Thankfully at the start of February this year, our fishers are being guided by a new set of regulations which they themselves helped create. These new regulations were created thanks to consultations with stakeholders which went on for years. Fishers, their representative organizations and environmental groups met with government reps again last summer to review the draft regulations which had been sitting unsigned on the Minister's desk for years. These second round of consultations which took place both here in Antigua and in Barbuda at the start of last summer actually suggested tougher regulations which essentially had a more sustainable-use approach than before.

There have been several very loud people in the media who have been suggesting that I (Eli Fuller) helped create these new regulations to suit my own agenda. This is hilarious for several reasons. First of all, I never attended any of the first consultations which ended up creating the first unsigned draft regulations of 2004. Then when our Minister called for a fresh round of consultations on the Fisheries Act and the draft regulations I did not attend these either. In fact, I have never had any meetings with any minister or any Fisheries officer or any other government representative to discuss anything within the new 2013 Fisheries Regulations. It's a complete mistake for fishermen around Antigua and Barbuda to believe that I have had any input whatsoever on what the regulations are calling for.

That all being said, let me explain what I did do, and how I feel about the new regulations. What I did was complain like so many others that our fishery was being used in a way that was unsustainable. Fish stocks were being depleted and the apparent lack of management had plenty to do with many of the problems that fishers were facing out on the water and back here on land. It was a no brainer that we needed seasons for certain species and last spring when called by the media to comment on the fact that Chinese businessmen were buying all available lobster here and exporting them, I said that we needed new regulations to be signed. In May, I got tired of complaining and hearing complaints about all the issues to do with fishing and decided to do more. I got together with The Antigua Conservation Society and we started an aggressive petition to the PM asking him to intervene. We felt that whatever was in the unsigned draft regulations sitting on the Ministers desk needed to be signed and implemented. After all, it was developed with the input of fishers and their organisations. That's what Eli Fuller did! I called for all of us fishers to be guided by new rules and regulations so that our children and our children's children may be able to fish here in our waters some day in the future. Many said that we should leave it alone. "When it's done, it's done!" is what some said. I didn't think that was right and I am happy that I got involved to push for change.

Now I am being accused of creating fisheries regulations which hurt poor people and help me. Typical coming from men like James Tanny Rose I guess. Tanny (interesting article and comments) is a man who I have never met, but who has always astonished me. I don't know how he is permitted to be a beacon of hate on the call in radio stations. Using ethnic slurs to describe races of people here on the island and derogatory descriptions of others who are not as "picky head" as he says he is because they came from other shores just is disgusting, and the media should be ashamed of themselves in 2013 to permit people like him to get away with it. He filled the airwaves apparently with untruths about the new regulations and how they came about. Anyway, I hope that the next time someone like him starts bashing me on this issue using racist descriptions or not, there will be someone else who has the facts which are simply that I called for new regulations but had no input whatsoever on what are in them.

Clearly I feel that generally it's a good thing that we now have some rules on fishing in place out there on the ocean and here on land. I have not had a chance to read the 2013 fisheries regulations but I have registered as a fishermen. The first thing anyone noticed when they go and register is that being registered with Social Security, Medical Benefits, and the Education Levy department are prerequisites. This is a big shock to many fishers who have fished for years without ever paying into these schemes. Many had no idea that they were required to by law, and some fishers are furious that Fisheries is forcing them to sign. I think that it's a bit much really and obviously this policy is something coming from an another area within the Government. Maybe even the IMF were involved, but I doubt the Minister or the Chef Fisheries Officer had anything to do with that requirement (and neither did I). I guess it may be a good things though to be registered with Medical Benefits if you are a fisherman. It can be a dangerous job out there and having free medical after you register and pay your modest contributions is very beneficial. I am told that every fisherperson must be registered with Fisheries unless you are fishing off the beach or off the rocks.
There are other controversial things in the new regulations, and one which creates the most noise has to do with spear fishing. Up until Feb 1st this year spear fishing in Antigua and Barbuda was only legal if you had a special permit from the Chief fisheries officer and permits were not being given out. Now anyone can get a permit to spear fish legally. What is controversial is that there are limits to how many fish each fisher is permitted to catch. This is something I am hearing about and didn't have any input at all in the regulations other than to publicly say in the past that spear fishing should be legal as long as it's not done in marine protected areas. I don't think it's a bad thing though.
If you spend the time to search for spearfishing vids on youtube you will see many people shooting large fish in deeper waters. There are hardly any vids of people shooting small fish for many reasons but most of all because good spearfishers want to go for big "choice fish" to maximise their productivity. Why take 6 hours to catch 20 lbs of tiny fish when you could spend one hour and catch three fish over 10 lbs? Check the videos for yourself. The problem here is that many fishermen rely on old techniques and would rather shoot fish on the shelf in the very shallow waters. Spearfishing in deep water for large fish would mean them having to re tool and learn new techniques. I know of several spearfishermen here in Antigua that are shooting big fish (without tanks) in deeper waters. Two big fish and they are done!
Although fishermen don't like to admit it, we have a big problem with our inshore fishery and reefs. Over fishing with all the various methods, worst of all netting, has caused this in conjunction with the hurricanes of the 90s. The government Fisheries department have put a limit on the numbers of fish spearfishers can catch in an effort to try and protect the reef ecosystems. I think we will see a huge increase in the number of spearfishers overall and probably an increase in the overall poundage of fish harvested in this method. It's legal now and unemployed people can go out and find some fish for their family. This legalising of spearfishing will help small scale fishers but the commercial spearfishers will need to learn new techniques. Swimming down to 50+ feet to shoot fish isn't as hard as many people would think and larger fish out beyond the reef make the regulated limit plausible.
Another controversial thing is seasons for certain species. These were so controversial that many have been deferred until 2014. Antigua and Barbuda will join all the islands nearby to finally have closed seasons for lobster and conch. Amazing and a positive thing for the environment and for fishers. Giving these highly targeted species some time to reproduce will ultimately give fishers more a more sustainable and stable catch. These regulations were not just pulled out of a hat. Regulations from around the region and much further afield which have worked well for fishers were taken into consideration along with the feedback and input from fishers both here and in Barbuda.
There are many things that I am sure we will find in the regulations which we can debate upon, but the reality is that we needed some rules here and this is a good starting point to help protect the marine environment and the fishing industry for generations to come. After visiting the main Fisheries office in town I can tell you that officers there are ready and willing to help you understand the regs. At the end of the day we are in a much better place than we were 12 months ago.

Minister of Fisheries in Antigua is hooked and can't get away.

Yes that's right. He's like a big mouth grouper who's bitten off more than he can chew. The hidden circle hook is riveted solidly in the side of his jaw and he's slowly being reeled in.  He's changing his colours but the camouflage won't help him. He's regurgitating the bait, but the hook is set. He's looking for rocks to hide behind, but there are none big enough. He's shaking his head in protest, but the line is taught and he's coming around. There is no escape now Brother B, you are coming up and have to concede that you are no longer in control.

Hilson Baptiste, Minister of Agriculture and responsible (astonishingly) for The Environment Division and Fisheries was in parliament bad talking me trying to suggest that because my dad, the lawyer, represents illegal French fishermen, I'm a hypocrite for calling on better environmental protection and trying to get the Fisheries regulations signed. In addition, he tried to make it sound like he's the one who has been pushing for the regulations to be passed. The reality is that we, the people, forced him to sign this thing and despite him doing everything he could to bury it, the regulations are starting him in the face once again and he must sign them. For years the finished regulations languished on his desk while he gazed into his solitaire playing computer doing nothing to help our severely depleted fishery. Year after year they remained unsigned despite all the work from the Fisheries Department and consultations with stakeholders that went into getting them to that stage. Each time someone asked him for a reason why he wasn't signing them he gave some lame excuse or the other. The Chief Fisheries officer was quoted time and time again as saying that her hands were tied on fisheries issues until the regulations were signed by the Minister. The Environmental Awarenss Group, The Fishermens Cooperative, The Sport Fishing Association, Fisheries, the press, and many individuals like myself asked for him to sign them and he ignored us all. The regulations did two things that frightened him. The first is that they actually gave slightly more control to the highly educated, knowledgeable people who have spent their careers day in and day out running the Fisheries Division. These people who know better than any other civil servant what is going on out on the water have had no say on what goes on out there up until now. The Minister who once told me after I invited him to come and see some of our reefs for himself: "Me cant swim so what the hell am I going to do out on a boat..." is the one who makes the key decisions in the Fisheries Department. Decisions that often are polar opposite to what his own officers have recommended. Take for example the Cabinet decision which called for Fisheries officers and other authorities to stop enforcing the laws which pertain to spear fishing. It is illegal to spear fish in Antigua without a permit from the Chief Fisheries Officer. Brother B went to Cabinet and lied to his Cabinet members telling them that his officers said that people should be permitted to spear fish. This information came to me from fisheries officers and from one of the Ministers who was in Cabinet. Imagine a Minister convincing other Cabinet Members to issue an order which would see that officers charged with upholding the law permit these laws to be broken. 
The second reason that he hadn't signed the regulations which he himself has been quoted as saying is that he didn't want anyone telling him to sign anything. He wasn't going to be pushed to do anything. It's something these elected officials seem to forget time and time again.. We elected you and you work for us!!!
In March or 2012 when the general public was up in arms about the huge investment being made by Chinese businessmen to target lobster in our waters, I started an education campaign which attempted to show just how broken our fisheries policy and current regulations were. IT wasn't the fault of Chinese, or of Dominicans, or of French fishers. It was the fault of the Minister responsible for Fisheries who permitted a free for all type of policy to carry on. It was and still is the wild west out there and lawlessness prevails. Once again calls were made to sign the completed fisheries regulations. Together with my fellow board members of The Antigua Conservation Society, we started a online petition to the PM. It was clear that Brother B would never sign the regulations unless something drastic was done. Thousands signed it and the press loved the idea that people were so interested in seeing the regulations signed. Brother B knew the tide was turning, and to find a way out of the hole he had dug himself into he decided to start from scratch with the regulations. Defering a decision was as good as not making a decision. New regulations would be drafted. This would delay the process and I think he hoped fishers would water down the regs, but after months of working on it the opposite came to be true. Consultations provided stronger regulations. Fishers were tired of the status quoe. They were tired of catching less and going further to do so. The press and general public was all over the issue.

Everyone has been watching and he's now got to sign it. The Fisheries department sent the redrafted regs to the ministry of legal affairs has FINALLY (after nearly three months) said they are good to go. Sooooo to save face after being found on the wrong side of public opinion on this issue, brother b is now suggesting in parliament that he's the champion of the fisheries regulations. He is the savior of the reefs and the fishery. In parliament this week he declared that I made people sign a document "against him" and that he's the one who got the regulations to where they are. He bad talked me saying that I am only and environmentalist when it suits me and all sorts of other things aimed at personally tarnishing my reputation. I don't care what this big mouth grouper thinks of me. I have one thing to say to him as he flips and flops on the slimy deck..... which is what I have been saying from the start....: JUST SIGN THE BLASTED THING ALREADY!  

Will the Chinese wipe out Antigua and Barbuda's lobster?

Over the past month there has been considerable media attention on the subject of certain Chinese businessmen orchestrating a massive monthly purchase and export of spiny lobster. (Click here if you want to know more about spiny lobster)
In a nutshell, these businessmen are providing boats, scuba gear and fishing equipment to fishermen here in Antigua and Barbuda in exchange to the exclusive rights to purchase this lobster from them at an elevated price than the current market price. The cost of the equipment is slowly subtracted from the payments so essentially the whole agreement is a sort of financing agreement. The deal for fishermen is irresistible.

The first big complaint in the media came from the hotel sector which became enraged when they couldn't get their usual supply of lobster. The Chinese were paying more for lobster and taking any amount supplied, so there was none being offered to the hotels. They were upset.

The second complaint came from one of the oldest lobster wholesalers here who for decades has been the biggest buyer and seller of lobster. He complained that he couldn't afford to pay as much as the Chinese for the lobster. His supply dried up and he was upset. 

The third complaint came from supermarkets and other local sources of consumption who could no longer get lobster to buy. For the first time since it opened Epicurean Supermarket has an empty lobster tank.

Recently I have heard complains against the businesses that are selling to fishermen who are being financed by the Chinese lobster mafia. They feel that it's wrong for some reason for local business to accept money loaned to fishermen from these Chinese lobster men. 

Then with all the media outcry and the calls coming in to the radio stations I started to hear more and more people complaining about the "Chinese and dem tekking all d lobster and nar left none for ahwee". Passions have run high and have even bordered on being viewed as xenophobic in some of the arguments. I say that because the focus seems to be on the notion that the Chinese are doing something wrong. All the comments are focused on the Chinese and not at all on the fisheries policy that has permitted non national entrepreneurs to capitalize on the fishery. It's not just Chinese either. One of the biggest seafood merchants in Antigua is a Syrian and most of the commercial fishing for parrot fish and lobster is being done these days by fishermen from Dominica and the Dominican Republic. Lets not even talk about the tons of fish that is caught in our waters by the French from Guadeloupe. Sustainable fishing has never been visible on the ground or in the water.

This concern that our nation's lobster stock being decimated by Chinese interests could be dealt with fairly easily I think. Once again it boils down to passing of the Fisheries Act and it's regulations and then enforcing them. This is a problem that has again and again been blamed for most of the marine conservation issues. Antigua & Barbuda are some of the only islands in the Caribbean that do not have a carefully managed closed season. Also, there doesn't seem to be any limits on catch or on export quantity. Essentially with enough money and resources, the Chinese could legally wipe out all of Antigua and Barbuda's lobster while using licensed fishermen who they finance/contract. They could do the same thing for almost all of our seafood to be honest. Just today my sister came across a group of Chinese men fishing along the Shell Beach main road. They had buckets of tiny Queen Conch (an endangered species) as well as buckets of starfish. This large group of Chinese are here working on the airport expansion and knowing that there is no fisheries management they play off their ignorance of the law and do as they like. That could be another blog entry i guess.

The issue at hand is the decimation of our lobster stock by local fishermen for Chinese consumption, and as I mentioned to fix it, our Fisheries Minster and his Chief Fisheries Officer need to work together in the interest of all of the citizens of the nation and get those regulations off the desk and into law. The interesting thing is that we even with all the media attenton and public interest we have not heard anything officially from them. This is not a problem with the Chinese, but rather a problem with the management of our fishery and the way that our fishermen utilize it. Currently the way seafood is harvested here is not sustainable, and if nothing is done there is no doubt in my mind that the only lobster my son will ever see will be in photos of them that I took before he was born.

I think it's time for action because writing and speaking about this doesn't seem to make any difference to the people making the decisions. I think we need to somehow be a bit louder. Does anyone else think it's time for an actual protest demonstration?

Other similar blog posts by me:

http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/2011/08/french-fishermen-threaten-us-while-we.html 

http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/2011/03/most-important-and-threatened-fish-in.html

http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/2009_06_19_archive.html

http://www.365antigua.com/cms/content/green-environment-gill-nets-threaten-antigua-barbudas-waters


http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/2011/07/chinese-lights-start-killing-turtles-in.html

Want to catch a blue marlin? Join us in the Antigua Sport Fishing Tournament.

Each year Adventure Antigua sends at least one of our boats to the Annual Sports Fishing Tournament here in Antigua. We have always done well and few boats have released as many marlin as our boat Xtreme has done. These days the price of fuel has limited our trips into the deep, and we have done far fewer international tournaments as well. However, there is one tournament that we try to do each year, and it's this annual one when many boats target Marlin. Last year was the first time that Adventure Antigua attempted to offset the costs associated with the tournament by taking on anglers who contributed financially. We didn't have a charter per say but each angler paid his fair share. Once again this year we are looking to do the same. Anyone who is interested in hooking up to a big marlin and fighting it to the boat so we can release it should give us a call or text. Contact me on my mobile +1 268 725 7263. For more info on the fishing and the tournament please check the link above. Here is a little compilation of video bits from the tournament last year.
www.adventureantigua.com

Get your Permit!

Fishing is a big part of my life and always has been. Although i have two boats and use them for fishing on days off whenever we have nice weather, i don't do fishing charters. I am sure that if you have been following this blog since the start then you will have seen my blog about Tony catching the monster marlin back in may of 2006. We love to fish when the conditions are right and the bite is on. It's not just deep sea fishing either.....I love light tackle inshore fishing which is kinda how i became so interested in the eco side of our islands. You can help but notice all the symbiotic and other relationships out there when you are trying to catch fish. It’s all there for you to see from the little pilchards hiding beneath the mangrove shoots to the pelicans gliding and searching for them above. The show is awesome out there and it’s a joy to be a witness out there seeing how it all comes together as it was created or evolved to do. I could go on an on about all the little relationships you see out there in the mangrove habitats, or on the reefs, or on the flats, or even out in the offshore blue abyss. Although seriously threatened and damaged, it is still a joy to behold.
Anyway, let’s get back on track. When my knee was very bad this time last year, i took quite a bit of time off driving the boats as was recommended by my Dr in London. Of course when you have little or no cartilage in the knee, standing all day while driving a rocking boat is painful. However, i couldn't stand being away from the water, so took up fly fishing with my uncle Jim.

On his boat I can sit as a passenger until we get to the fishing spot and then stand on the sand bank casting for fish. It is way less jarring on the knee and was good fun too. He got me into fly fishing as is a hard core addict for the sport. As a long time hunter of various different game, fly-fishing was the natural progression for him. Hunting animals that live on land or in the air is very similar to proper fly-fishing. You need to be very quiet making no loud noise at all, you need to understand how the target species lives and feeds and travels. You equipment needs to be in tip top condition, and you need to be skilled at using it. When i am out there i almost feel like it must have been the same thing in the old days when hunting lions or other big game. The hunter carefully stalking the prey. The biggest difference is when we do saltwater fly fishing, we take great care to make sure the fish we catch are released safely back into the wild. There are two fish that we go after when we go fly fishing: Permit and Bonefish. These two fish are the most sought after fish in the world for saltwater fly fishermen because of their amazing strength and i guess even more for the incredible challenge it is to catch them. First let me talk about the bonefish. It is sometimes called the "Grey Ghost" because people out there hunting for them sometimes think they see them...and they just seem to vanish into thin air or thin water actually. They get "spooked" with the slightest sound or unusual water movement. They can see you almost always before you can see them mainly because of their mirror like scales which just reflect everything around them. They blend into their surroundings so well that sometimes they will be right close to you and you haven't seen them. All of a sudden when you move, the bones get spooked and with a huge splash they disappear. Only master anglers can catch bonefish on fly rod without messing it up because it’s just that difficult. On average they are about 6 or 7 pounds and can get up to about 14 pounds. The local name for them here is "ten pounder" which would excite many fishermen if they hooked in to that size every time. We use light tackle for them so that the fight is as hard core as possible. They usually graze the flats (grassy shallow sea beds) looking for shrimp and tiny crabs. Since the flats are usually very shallow you sometimes can see their wake or if you are lucky you can spot their tails sticking out of the water as they dig for a hiding prey. In fact, "tailing" is the easiest way of seeing them and it’s what i look for when i am on the flats with my fly rod. Another good indication that the grey ghost is around is when there is a stirred up patch in the flats. If you see a very cloudy spot about the size of a couch in the flats then that is either bone fish or a stingray. They dig for shells or crabs or shrimp in the flats and give their position away. Anyway, once you have found them you very quietly get close enough to cast your fly close to them. You want to make sure the fly (lure) which usually looks like a shrimp or a small pilchard or even a small crab lands very gently close to them. If it hits too hard then the ghost disappears in a flash, but if it’s too far then they don't see it and keep on grazing. If the winds are not too strong and the light fly gently lands in front of the fish then magic can happen. The fish sees the fly and stops searching in the grassy flats bed, and begins to follow the fly which you are slowly retrieving by taking short strips of fly line through the rod. As the bone fish bites the fly you strike it enough to set the hook and hold on for dear life as the explosive mass of power that is the bone fish peels the line off your rod. The run a bone fish makes when first hooked is legendary and you will hear many stories from fishermen about how the big fish got away after a monstrous run. They are known as the strongest fish in the sea pound for pound and will not just give one run and give up like many other fish. Like blue marlin in the deep these guys give many runs and will fight hard all the way to the boat if you are lucky enough not to get cut off. We use a special tool called a booger grip to grab the fish on the lower jaw in order to take the hook out without touching his scales. Like the rays in Stingray City these bonefish have a protective mucus coating that helps them stay healthy. When you release the fish you lose sight of it immediately as it flees in a camouflaged flash.
Last year i caught about 5 of them and spent a hell of a lot of time out on the flats trying to catch more. Fly fishermen can be happy just seeing them.
Now for the second fish and the main purpose of today's blog. My uncle Jim isn't as interested in Bone Fish as he is in Permit.

Permit are much larger fish feeding on some of the same stuff that bones do, but specifically like eating crabs. The type of crabs that they go after are not much larger than an inch and seem to live under small rocks and pieces of dead coral on the shallow flats beds. These fish are much larger than bone fish and on average must be about 20 lbs in Antigua. They feed in the same areas though and are as strong as bone fish. They get easily spooked too and you have to be exceptionally quiet and move ever so slowly when they are around. You stalk them like you see a lion stalking a gazelle. One false move and the permit is gone as the gazelle would too. These fish are even more difficult to catch on Fly and i doubt there is a more difficult fish to catch anywhere. I think my obsessed uncle has been hunting and stalking them for about 5 years without ever catching one. There have been many interesting articles on how they feed and why it’s so difficult to catch them on fly. One theory is that they inhale the fly and spit it out in one split second motion once they taste or feel that it’s not a real crab. I have had them follow my fly (fake crab) dozens of times and even had they try to bite it, but have never caught one either. You see them on the shallow flats when their tails or fins stick out when trying to get crabs from under a rock. They also don't particularly like to chase a moving fly which poses a problem. Where we find them, there is usually plenty on the bottom to get snagged on, so if you let your fly fall to the bottom you are in trouble. To avoid this you have to be ever so careful to retrieve the fly slowly enough to make it look like a crab and not too slow that it gets snagged. It’s a mission which is why so few people have caught them. In fact, i don’t think anyone has ever caught one in Antigua on fly until yesterday.
My uncle Jim and a friend of his today finally scored one on fly. The friend had fished all over the world trying to get one and was elated to finally get his glory. The fish wasn't that large but it was a permit and that's what counts. Jim's wife Mossy told me that the two great hunters came home grinning and joking like two teenage kids. Congrats jimbo!
The pics are of Jim holding a bonefish before we had the booger grip and the other is of a permit that was inside stingray city for a while before they let it go. IT was huge!