In an open letter to Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources V. Alfred Gray, an organization called the Climate Change Initiative at the University of The Bahamas warned that the proposed $2.1 billion China-Bahamas Agriculture and Fisheries Initiative would violate the Fisheries Resources Act if approved, while also asserting significant concerns about the proposed project.
Section seven of the Fisheries Resources Act stipulates that no foreign fishing is allowed within The Bahamas' exclusive economic zone without a fisheries treaty.
Section 2(1) of the act states that a fishing vessel company allowed to fish must have all shares beneficially owned by a Bahamian citizen.
According to the proposal, printed in The Nassau Guardian two weeks ago, the initiative will entail the incorporation of 100 Bahamian companies under the Companies Act of 1992, and each of the 100 companies will be owned 50-50 by both China and by Bahamians or Bahamian entities.
It will also grant each of those companies 100 acres of leased Crown land on Andros, with an opportunity to access 100 additional acres.
"This proposal violates section 2(1), unless a fisheries treaty is entered into between The Bahamas and China," said the Climate Change Initiative in the letter.
"This represents a significant shift in the approach to commercial fisheries in the country.
"While the proposed ownership structure may maintain Bahamian workers on these vessels, half of the profits from commercial fishing in the country would benefit the [People's Republic of China], and decisions regarding the management of the company's activities - catch sizes, vessel sizes, intensity of activities and choice of export markets - would be made by the companies themselves, not the government of The Bahamas."
The letter questioned the legislative gaps on commercial fishing and enforcement limitations and the government's ability to regulate an agreement on such a large scale.
"The [China-Bahamas Agriculture and Fisheries] Initiative contains no restrictions on the number of fishing licenses to be provided to each of the joint venture companies and no restrictions on the number or types of vessels that can be operated by the companies," the letter said.
"This leaves the potential for hundreds or more fishing vessels to conduct commercial fishing activities within our waters.
"... Our existing legislative and capacity constraints would indicate that our existing framework for commercial fisheries, and the monitoring and enforcement of restrictions, is not sufficiently robust to enter into an arrangement of this scale."
The organization also expressed concern for the initiative's risks to marine resources, recommending that before undertaking an initiative of such proportion, the government should conduct multi-year studies including stock assessments of marine resources.
The letter stated that while the China-Bahamas Agriculture and Fisheries Initiative anticipates quick profits for Bahamians invested in the companies and China, it is not "in the interest of Bahamians who are not able to participate in these ownership structures, or those who may depend on marine resources for their livelihood or sustenance".
"Without regulations on catch or vessel sizes, or the capacity to enforce any of these restrictions, our marine resources could easily be entirely decimated well within a 10-year period, leaving nothing for future generations of Bahamians," the letter said.
The letter has been supported by several non-governmental organizations, including the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), the Bahamas National Trust (BNT), the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance, Andros Conservancy and Trust (ANCAT), Friends of the Environment, the Ocean Crest Alliance, Earthcare Grand Bahama, reEarth, the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association, Save The Bays, Waterkeepers Alliance, Citizens for a Better Bahamas, the Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG), Cape Eleuthera Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, and several professors at the University of The Bahamas.
Sloan Smith, Guardian Staff Reporter
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
