Longer grouper ban needed

The Brac fishermen are good people and need to earn a living. I think their suggestion is very reasonable and better than no protection at all, especially as it is well known that it is mainly irresponsible foreign fishermen who take too many fish each year. Let our Caymanian fishermen fish and support themselves. The fish will always be there!

My family, though not residents, have been spending money on Brac and, to a lesser extent, Grand and Little Cayman, for several decades. We find Brac to be idyllic and relish the time we spend there. We spend a lot of money between home rentals, the tourism tax, purchases at Fosters and other stores, rental cars, airport fees, local gas stations, Reef Divers for scuba, and local restaurants. But make no mistake: the unparalleled scuba diving is what has been bringing us to Brac time after time. Continue to overfish and decimate these marine populations and you will so visitors like us and many of our fellow Cayman-loving friends take their considerable money to destinations like Bonaire, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and further distant locations. It will be a shame because we've grown to love our friends on Brac- more than one of whom I see has signed that Grouper Ban petition letter. I understand that making a living is a necessity and that there may be some resentment over visitors to your home island opining about how you govern yourselves. You're free to do as you please- Brac tenacity and self-reliance has no peer anywhere in the world. It is something we would greatly miss seeing. But if you continue on an unsustainable path of removing elements of the ocean pyramid, you will see the Grouper go, then other fishes, larger predators (shark populations world-wide are already down 90%). Put yourselves before the beautiful resources you've been given and you will no longer have the appeal of a beautiful place to live and visit. To see what this looks like at the extreme, look at the marine and land ecologies of Haiti. The conditions of the reef ecologies are Jamaica are the next step for Cayman if a prudent, responsible, and moral balance is not struck now. Ending the Nassau ban is a step in the wrong direction.

The so called fishermen who have signed the letter do not make a living fishing - they are sports fishermen. Most of them are current civil servants or retired civil servants who go fishing like everyone else in the Brac - there is no need to open up the grouper fishing not one single person who signed the letter need to go fishing for grouper as a matter of fact some have signed the letter and do not even fish.

It is so wrong that the political leaders of Cayman Brac would try and short-circuit and undermine the scientific work of the DOE, in order to seek votes. This should be way beyond politics. This is an opportunity for the Cayman Islands, the owners, of some of the finest reefs in the world, to show that they are leaders in prudent management of their marine resources.

But what happens instead? The fisherman get impatient, and are prepared to risk destroying, the whole scientific exercise of the last nine years. The politicians should not be second guessing the scientists, but giving them their fullest support. These are dedicated people, acting in the best interests of Cayman, which I know is a hard concept to swallow these days.The fishermen want to consume their seed-corn, and there can only be one response: IF the scientific findings support a continued ban, then that is how it must remain.

While I am one of the under signed individuals listed on the letter, I am not fully in support of the specifics of the letter. My position, though not shared with the majority of the under signed, is a little more conservative-pun intended. I personally believe: 1) Open Grouper holes 2) Set Catch Limit to 12 per crew per season. - A CREW ARE 2 or MORE in ONE BOAT. THEY MUST FISH TOGETHER FOR THE SEASON. No exceptions. 3) Issue a seasonal/annual license for the crew. 4) DOE does inspection-and must be present at ports where boats return. Also, DOE should have presence on the water in close proximity to fishing grounds. 5) The season should be opened and closed per Radio (treated like a tournament) etc. 6) A season should be for a pre-determined period of time-let's say 10 days. Before and After the set dates the grounds will remain closed. No fishing permitted The math is easy: 30 Crews/boats x 12 groupers= 360 groupers per season. DOE Math said (per Fishermen proposal letter ): 12 groupers x 15 boats x 9 days=1,620 (Heck even I and many others think this is too much) All the fishermen that signed the letter are really not "idiots" by any means. All they are asking for is an opportunity to catch some fish- with limits. This is a grand step whn compared to our "heritage". I agree that there were individuals that flooded the market some years back and almost completely wiped out the fishing grounds. However, now that the fishermen have been educated on the "slow recruitment" of groupers, I feel confident that compliance can be expected. Nonetheless a hefty fine should be set for those who wish to defy the law and the effort on both side of the debate here. Just my thoughts.

Brac Booby- Preservation of a species is the furthest from trivial one could get … I doubt anyone will be lining up for a piece of grouper when there is none left Do us Bracas a favor and educate yourself on an issue prior to throwing your nonsensical comments out there for all to see and judge. The extension of the ban is a scientifically proven necessity due to the over fishing of days gone by What is sad is that there should be no need for such a law we as the people of Cayman should know when enough is enough and strive as a unified people protect and preserve our ecosystems without someone having to step in and say hey now, time to lay off the Groupers Turtles Lobsters conch etc. I would like my kids and grandkids to know what those things taste like and can look beyond my big toe to the future and see that going without right now is the best option to guarantee its availability in the future …. Just saying

Our groupers seem to be one of the few "trainable" indigenous predators to the invasive Lionfish species.  If we can give the Grouper a chance to reach sexual maturity, we might have some hope towards protecting our future reef ecosystems, which extends to Snapper populations, Grunts and other key marine species.     

I certainly agree that a further ban on groupers will be good for the Cayman Islands.We have to bear in mind that our population is nothing like it used to be back in the late 60's when I first came here.Its gone from about 9000 total to almost 60000 and we cannot possibly sustain catching groupers to help satisfy a large poirtion of the present population.Its the way it is and should be if we are to keep a good stock of these wonderful creatures for our future generations.I see where some people want a partial ban but be allowed to catch so many per person per day.That in my opinion would be too hard to enforce as I am sure there will be some that will never adhere to those rules.In that case the good will end up suffering for the bad and that is really a shame as there are fishermen out there who should not have to suffer because of a few.Maybe a slight change could be made but in the meantime leave it the way it is.

I just had a look at the attached list of people who are fighting to remove the ban on groupers and impose a 12 fish limit......I've known these people all my life, and some are even my family.....I also know that some of them, family or otherwise, are poachers of the worst kind, the kind that would not hesitate to exploit any marine life right down to the last one left on Earth!!! 

I've personally heard two of the signatories listed say "If I don't take it, somebody else will"

It's a poacher's natural mindset and the common thread that binds them! 

The ban seems to have generally kept them from having the grouper free-for-all they previously enjoyed at everyone elses expense, and from the evidence we have seen so far, the spawning grouper population has been rising which means the ban must be working.

I'm sure most prudent minded people will agree that it would be a complete waste of all the time, money and effort already devoted to SAVING the groupers, if you throw it away now for the gready few!!! 

Take a fellow fisherman's foolish advice: DON'T REMOVE THE BAN!!!

I say keep the grouper fishing ban for at least another 5 years. We have survived for the past 9 years without fishing for these groupers and not one single person in Cayman Brac or elsewhere has been affected by it. The Hon. Deputy Premier is only supporting this because of pressure from the local fishermen - voting time soon you know. These so called brac fishermen are sports fishermen and do not make their living fishing - of course if things are slow or rough a little extra cash does not hurt but they are not exactly making a living from fishing. There are other fish to be caught and sold. Keep the ban.

The Brac fisherman were the Groupers' caretakers, and they failed in their responsibility. Now that the damage has been done, they cannot expect these fish to recover at their convenience. They need to do whatever it takes, and be thankful that there are scientists who have devoted their time to discovering the true picture before it was too late. Had it not been for then DOE they'd almost certainly be extinct by now. These fish belong to all of us.We must do the right thing.The World is watching.