From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Local
"No Chinese Fishing In Bahamas, says Prime Minister"
By Bob Bower, The Association of Bahamas Marinas
Nov 24, 2016 - 3:45:33 PM

Prime-Minister-of-The-Bahamas-Perry_Christie_2013__cropped_.jpg
Prime Minister of The Bahamas, The Rt.Hon. Perry Christie, emphatically stated in reports in the Nassau Guardian and Tribune daily newspapers that no mass commercial fishing will take place under foreign ownership. Christie said commercial fishing is reserved only for Bahamians, that there are no fisheries negotiations with the Chinese. The Prime Minister reiterated his government’s policy of conserving the Bahamas’ fisheries and natural resources.

Nassau, Bahamas - The following is a statement by The Association of Bahamas Marinas:

Speculation having been rife for several weeks about the remote possibility of large scale fishing in Bahamian waters by Chinese fishing vessels, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, has put the matter to rest, unequivocally stating: “We are not going to compromise and no discussion will lead to a conclusion that this government would have contemplated or agreed for that to happen.”

The Prime Minister’s November 22 statement, published and quoted in the Nassau Guardian and the Tribune, finally brings to an end weeks of concerned speculation after elements of correspondence between the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources and the Bahamian ambassador to China had been leaked to the media.

The Prime Minister further emphasised that the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas has worked out no arrangement with the Chinese government or Chinese companies, in furtherance of any memorandum or exchange of memoranda with his government's minister of agriculture and marine resources.

The Association of Bahamas Marinas was one of the many groups calling for a clarifying, definitive statement from the Bahamas Government. With some 48 marina and allied members, the ABM is the united voice representing the boating, yachting, sport fishing and marina industries of the Bahamas.



© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com -