THE LADY ROBERTS - And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures..." (Genesis,1:2). While a crew of Spanish Wells fishermen profess this as truth, finding evidence of it was difficult during their last voyage.
For nearly two weeks, eight crew members aboard two fishing vessels endured the turbulent motion of the seas only to cast their nets in waters once dense with fish.
It did not used to be this way, explained lifelong captain Ray Roberts. The depleted stock of fish was disappointing, but he told his crew there was not a "blessed thing" anybody could do about it except remain faithful to the expedition and push on.
"There is no doubt that the sea is being overfished. There are too many fishermen for the size of the country we live in," Roberts said. "It's worse than I've ever seen it. I never found it so hard to find fish in my life."
Roberts speaks from 53 years of experience and counting. At 14 he went as far as he could in school, not unusual for Spanish Wells boys. He then set out to learn the secrets of the sea.
Later this year he will celebrate his 69th birthday, making him the oldest fishing captain in Spanish Wells, an island well-known for its success in the fishing industry.
"When I went to sea with my daddy I took interest in the business. I just knew I'd be a fisherman," he said. "Nobody had to convince me."
Two crippling accidents and six fishing boats later, Roberts is still moving full steam ahead. These days his fishing operation consists of Lady Roberts, a 62' Stapleton yacht he owns and operates, and Tenacious, a 55' Defender yacht he co-owns with diver Abner Pinder (known as Little Noah). He also owns Sea Ray, a crawfishing boat operated by his son and son-in-law.
Roberts learned to read the waters at an early age and has recorded the coordinates in both his books and mind. With no land in sight, Roberts stops the boat dead in the water and points to a white hole, which looks like any other white hole, and explains the amount and type of fish that frequents that spot.
"Captains were a lot smarter back then. We didn't have GPS', no Loran. When I started out we used charts," he said.
Roberts never set his mind on riches. But has become quite successful, even with his less than cooperative body. At 18 he was in a car accident that rendered him immobile. His skull was crushed and the doctors did not give him much hope that he would walk again.
But Roberts shrugged it off and concentrated on an outcome that was less gloomy. Within a few months he resumed his place at sea. His second dance with death took place 30 years ago on the maiden voyage of the Lady Roberts. While surfacing from a dive Roberts was chopped by an outboard motor, nearly severing his right arm and exposing his brain.
"I'm really not supposed to be alive. But my motto throughout life has been to fight to the last minute," Roberts said. "I thank God for life. He kept me here for a purpose."

Careless fishing practices

Roberts' own struggle to live only steeled his understanding that all life will fight to the death. But he fears that our big appetites and careless fishing practices will prevent a comeback of sea life.
He's already seeing evidence of this.
"Everywhere we went before we would haul at least 100 kits (a large bag of fish)," he said. "At the time we wouldn't haul for less than 50 kits. Now we make hauls of 20 to 30 kits."
Divers Little Noah and Mark Schmucker and boat operator Dudley Alburn (known as Granmoun), sped ahead in the skiff to check out known fish habitats. Roberts radioed his crew.
"Come in Granmoun. What do you see?"
"Plenty of grunts and two kits of Margot fish," Granmoun answered.
"Yeah, keep going," Roberts replied.
Roberts laments for the days when the concentration of sea life reached as far as the eye could see. Now this so-called miracle mile of fish has been reduced to a haul of faith.
He sighed, but with a grin said, "Oh we're going to catch some fish. It ain't over yet. If you give up, well, that's the end of it."
Fourteen years ago Roberts saw that a shortage of big fish was becoming a trend. Small fish swim with big fish. Once netted they die on deck, and denied the chance to mature. Bothered by the waste, he made a sorting table with a trap door so that small fish could be cast back to sea and given a chance to grow.
"We were killing so many little fish that could grow up and be useful. It's a disgrace what we did. I didn't think the banks would be overfished like they are," Roberts said.
Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, executive director at Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), agrees that fish stocks are paying the price for demand.
"The only time we know for sure when we lose a fish stock is when it's too late. Other countries have found out the hard way," she explained.
But something can still be done to conserve fish habitats without compromising the commercial fishing industry. Basically, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
"Marine reserves are critical for maintaining the fishing industry. We are lucky in The Bahamas because we have the opportunity to learn from our neighbors' (Jamaica, Virgin Islands, etc.) mistakes and we can use the precautionary principle and not go down that path," McKinney-Lambert said. "We want future generations to be able to fish."
Compounding the problem is crawfishing boats, which have begun fishing as their catch is being harvested by other fishermen.
"The government says once they (crawfish habitats) go in the water they belong to any Bahamian. That's what the government says, but they're wrong," Granmoun argued.
Roberts explained that it's not just a scrap among local fishermen.
"The Dominicans are coming into Bahamian waters and spearing traps. I really don't understand why they are allowed to come into our waters. Someone's getting a cut," he said. "The government should try to solve the problem by trying to enforce some sort of rules and regulations. If not, I believe it's going to come down to war out on the high seas."
There's more to their story than just schools of fish playing truant, or worse, never being present to begin with.
Basically, the crew aboard Lady Roberts and Tenacious experienced some setbacks, and it's possible that other fishermen made the hauls they intended to get.
During their weeks at sea the winds blew about 20 to 25 knots with nine to 12-foot seas. Also, equipment failed; their freezer had a fever and the crew spent an entire day preventing the fish they did catch from perishing.
And Jesse Higgs, 18, startled everyone when he went into a diabetic shock. They changed their route and whisked him to Cat Cay where he received treatment and was finally helicoptered to a Nassau hospital by the Coast Guard.
But Roberts and crew understand that some days you just "gotta let the rough end drag".
"If we didn't have any bad luck then we wouldn't have any at all," Roberts laughed. "You have to be tenacious. If you say 'I'll never make it,' you never will. You have to do what you need to do at the time you need to do it."
Eventually the crew did make headway and rejoiced for their few hundred kits of assorted fish, including the much sought after Goggle Eye -- a Good Friday favorite among Bahamians.
"God has provided a way for my prosperity," said Roberts. "I have found ways where there was no way."

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