Almost a year after several poaching vessels were seized because of illegal fishing in Bahamian waters, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard said yesterday that those vessels will be destroyed.
 
“The vessels will be sunk an announcement will be made shortly on the date. The media will have an opportunity as well as other stakeholders to witness it,” Mr. Pintard said. 

“We will sink those vessels. The dinghies from those vessels will be distributed to a number of fishing communities for use by fishers to continue their work.”

In December 2018 alone, during several joint efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard Operations Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, 18 Dominican poachers and their vessels were apprehended. 

Too, in December, seven Dominicans, who were apprehended a month prior were all charged before the courts with various fishing violations and fined a total of $413,000. 

Prior to this incident, a total of 172 Dominican poachers and four Dominican fishing vessels with over 100,000 pounds of fisheries products were apprehended during June, July and October. 

The poachers, in this case, were all charged and found guilty by the courts and sentenced to time ranging from six to 18 months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services and fined a total of approximately $7 million.