So often, travel tours offer clients who take their cruises or excursions, fresh seafood caught and then grilled right in front on them on the beach.
It’s supposed to be a big drawing point for tourists. Seafood so fresh that they can participate in catching it and watching as its cooked right in front of them.
A report from the Royal Gazette, a newspaper in Bermuda, has found signs of rampant illegal fishing including that of protected species like lobster out of season.
The paper was tipped off by residents, including divers. Locals says they have seen staff disembark from Dockyard cruise ships and hauling critters off shore and eating them. Also found beside the lobster remains were signs that parrot fish and West Indian Tops, both species which are protected. Their tails and bones and the shells of the spiny lobster, which is presently out of season, were found on the beac.
There are also signs, the locals told the newspaper, that a fishing hole has been strewn with litter and remnants of cooking fires.
A reporter from The Royal Gazette found freshly cooked marine life remains and bottle caps and cigarette butts around a cooking fire.
The divers told the newspaper that they went to authorities but didn’t get a response. One of the divers also said it wasn’t likely that the cruise ships crews didn’t know about the fishing rules in Bermuda.
h/t: The Royal Gazette
Photo credit: Jonathan Bell, The Royal Gazette
