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Businessman Mario Carey Cries ‘Why are we giving away our natural resources for free?’

Mon, May 8th 2023, 11:09 AM
Business Environment

Real estate legend and diver Mario Carey heightened the urgency of his call for monetizing and monitoring the waters of The Bahamas in the face of record numbers of boats anchoring in harbours and bays threatening already decaying coral reefs and once abundant marine life.

With record-breaking numbers of vessels dropping anchor in harbours and bays free of charge with no regulation or oversight, real estate legend and advocate for Bahamian prosperity Mario Carey today urged immediate action to monetize the waters of The Bahamas. 

It was a call he originally made two years ago, but upped the level of urgency as more boats drop anchor, he said, lining Nassau harbour from east to west, and more charter vessels earn a handsome sum with little benefit to Bahamians. It’s time, he said, to put a price tag on the ‘free waters’ of The Bahamas. 

“Luxury charter yachts are bought and sold by being shown by foreign brokers in Bahamian waters without The Bahamas earning a fee,” said Carey, who is best known for his achievements in real estate but who has turned his attention to fighting for Bahamian prosperity. “A luxury yacht can charge more than $100,000 for a week in Exuma and what does the Bahamian get for that? They come in with all foreign crew with no work permits required and they use our waters. We need to monetize and monitor our waters to protect our coral reefs, our fish, conch and crawfish stock and our marine life in general.” 

Carey sees the issue as twofold – legal and ethical – and the policy changes as multi-faceted.  

“Many yacht owners are responsible, they are careful about how they anchor, they contribute to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, so I do not want to denigrate everyone who has ever operated a boat in The Bahamas,” he said. “But so many more just use our beautiful waters to earn a very handsome living and it is our fault because we do not have a fee structure for traversing the waters, so that is first.”

Carey points to how long it took for The Bahamas to collect fees for its airspace. He wants to see a similar approach to the waters with all vessels over a minimal size -- commercial, cargo, recreational -- paying a fee. 

Carey is also troubled by what he calls the ‘ethical implications’ of requiring local industries to abide by work permit requirements while charter boats operating solely in Bahamian waters have no such responsibility. 

“How is this good for Bahamians?” asks the successful entrepreneur who is also an avid diver and small boat operator. “We are seeing an historic number of boats from the 30-foot sailboat to the 60-foot catamaran right up to the luxury charter yacht just dropping anchor in Nassau Harbour and Montagu Bay as well as in the western part of the harbour. Rose Island is lit up like a city at night with all the boats at anchor. Yet with all this heavy boat traffic, we have no regulations, no monitoring, we don’t know who is pumping sewage directly into the water. We don’t know how many fish or conch or crawfish they’re taking. We are giving away our most valuable natural resource – our waters – for free. Why are we doing this?” 

Carey says the first requirement should be mooring buoys for any vessel not in a marina. “Keeping vessels safely tied to a mooring buoy will keep them off coral reefs and protect what is left of healthy reefs which are diminishing before our eyes,” he notes. 

Funds collected from traversing the waters and using buoy tie-ups along with a small marina fee per vessel can pay for equipment and personnel to better monitor the waters, catch and fine anyone who damages coral, takes unjustly from the sea or pumps waste into it. Repeat offenders, if convicted, he believes, should lose the privilege to enter The Bahamas and their vessels should be seized.  

“When there are no regulations regarding anchoring, dumping and flushing, and far too few officers or wardens to enforce fishing regulations, we have the equivalent of a wild, wild west at anchor and in the sea,” he said. Carey has met with dozens of fishermen fed up with foreigners overfishing -- taking grouper, hogfish, snappers and large catch along with conch and crawfish and in many cases selling what they catch back in the States. 

“We’ve looked at drone monitoring devices, boats, radar, sonar, almost anything that will serve as a tool to get a handle on what is happening in our waters before New Providence and several Family Islands end up like Elizabeth Harbour in Exuma, beautiful to look at but barren, a parking lot for boats,” he says frankly. “If we are the boating capital of the region, if we are the most desired destination, should we not regulate, preserve and benefit from such a prestigious position? It’s within our power. We must act now.”  

Real estate legend and diver Mario Carey heightened the urgency of his call for monetizing and monitoring the waters of The Bahamas in the face of record numbers of boats anchoring in harbours and bays threatening already decaying coral reefs and once abundant marine life
With record-breaking numbers of vessels dropping anchor in harbours and bays free of charge with no regulation or oversight, real estate legend and advocate for Bahamian prosperity Mario Carey today urged immediate action to monetize the waters of The Bahamas. 
It was a call he originally made two years ago, but upped the level of urgency as more boats drop anchor, he said, lining Nassau harbour from east to west, and more charter vessels earn a handsome sum with little benefit to Bahamians. It’s time, he said, to put a price tag on the ‘free waters’ of The Bahamas. 
“Luxury charter yachts are bought and sold by being shown by foreign brokers in Bahamian waters without The Bahamas earning a fee,” said Carey, who is best known for his achievements in real estate but who has turned his attention to fighting for Bahamian prosperity. “A luxury yacht can charge more than $100,000 for a week in Exuma and what does the Bahamian get for that? They come in with all foreign crew with no work permits required and they use our waters. We need to monetize and monitor our waters to protect our coral reefs, our fish, conch and crawfish stock and our marine life in general.” 
Carey sees the issue as twofold – legal and ethical – and the policy changes as multi-faceted.  
“Many yacht owners are responsible, they are careful about how they anchor, they contribute to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, so I do not want to denigrate everyone who has ever operated a boat in The Bahamas,” he said. “But so many more just use our beautiful waters to earn a very handsome living and it is our fault because we do not have a fee structure for traversing the waters, so that is first.”
Carey points to how long it took for The Bahamas to collect fees for its airspace. He wants to see a similar approach to the waters with all vessels over a minimal size -- commercial, cargo, recreational -- paying a fee. 
Carey is also troubled by what he calls the ‘ethical implications’ of requiring local industries to abide by work permit requirements while charter boats operating solely in Bahamian waters have no such responsibility. 
“How is this good for Bahamians?” asks the successful entrepreneur who is also an avid diver and small boat operator. “We are seeing an historic number of boats from the 30-foot sailboat to the 60-foot catamaran right up to the luxury charter yacht just dropping anchor in Nassau Harbour and Montagu Bay as well as in the western part of the harbour. Rose Island is lit up like a city at night with all the boats at anchor. Yet with all this heavy boat traffic, we have no regulations, no monitoring, we don’t know who is pumping sewage directly into the water. We don’t know how many fish or conch or crawfish they’re taking. We are giving away our most valuable natural resource – our waters – for free. Why are we doing this?” 
Carey says the first requirement should be mooring buoys for any vessel not in a marina. “Keeping vessels safely tied to a mooring buoy will keep them off coral reefs and protect what is left of healthy reefs which are diminishing before our eyes,” he notes. 
Funds collected from traversing the waters and using buoy tie-ups along with a small marina fee per vessel can pay for equipment and personnel to better monitor the waters, catch and fine anyone who damages coral, takes unjustly from the sea or pumps waste into it. Repeat offenders, if convicted, he believes, should lose the privilege to enter The Bahamas and their vessels should be seized.  
“When there are no regulations regarding anchoring, dumping and flushing, and far too few officers or wardens to enforce fishing regulations, we have the equivalent of a wild, wild west at anchor and in the sea,” he said. Carey has met with dozens of fishermen fed up with foreigners overfishing -- taking grouper, hogfish, snappers and large catch along with conch and crawfish and in many cases selling what they catch back in the States. 
“We’ve looked at drone monitoring devices, boats, radar, sonar, almost anything that will serve as a tool to get a handle on what is happening in our waters before New Providence and several Family Islands end up like Elizabeth Harbour in Exuma, beautiful to look at but barren, a parking lot for boats,” he says frankly. “If we are the boating capital of the region, if we are the most desired destination, should we not regulate, preserve and benefit from such a prestigious position? It’s within our power. We must act now.”  

 

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