The Fishermen’s Association of Bermuda is releasing a plan that focuses on the co-operative management of fisheries as an alternative to the programme presented by the Government.

The association has spent a year working on the plan after rejecting the Bermuda Ocean Prosperity Programme’s proposal to close off 20 per cent of Bermuda’s waters to fishing.

It has sent the plan to David Burt and is sharing it with Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, for consideration.

The BOPP was originally approved in 2019 in a tripartite agreement between the Government, the Bermuda Intitute of Ocean Sciences and the Waitt Institute, a US environmental group committed to ocean conservation.

The FAB rejected the plan. It said that fishermen were not properly consulted and that more data was needed before decisions were made.

A spokeswoman for the FAB said in a cover letter shared with this newspaper: "Co-operative management of fisheries is not a new concept. It’s been around since at least the 1990s.

“It means that the first people who should be consulted on major policy that directly affects their industry should be the fishermen.

“For a programme like BOPP, it means that consultation needs to happen before the closing of 20 per cent of Bermuda’s waters to local fishers is promised by Government to foreign NGO’s, as described in the 2019 MOU.

“Such closures are heavy-handed and generally geared towards large-scale industrial fishing, not the small-scale, artisanal, owner-operated fishery that exists in Bermuda.

“The questions should have been asked are, ‘Who gets to set and define this goal? is this the right goal to be pursuing? Is it appropriate for the industry and environment it directly affects?’

“Co-operative management means that any proposed policy change must be measured against goals and principles that are agreed upon and clearly communicated in advance by both government and the industry.

“FAB proposes the new goal of working to build a co-management framework that blends industry, governance, conservation and science to manage Bermuda’s marine resources.

“The first and most basic building block is to be a Fisheries Management Plan, something that most countries and other jurisdictions already have in place. In 2010, the Department of Environmental Protection started this process with their document A Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Bermuda’s Living Marine Resources.

“Goals listed in that document include bringing recreational fishers into a regulatory framework, instituting a ticketing system to improve enforcement, stock analysis to better manage various species and improving the relationship between fishers and management.

“All things that have also been asked for by FAB and none of which have been accomplished in 14 years.“

Proposals for marine-protected areas have been redrawn for multiple locations in both the nearshore and offshore.

Changes to proposed marine-protected areas under BOPP’s Bermuda’s Blue Prosperity Plan were revealed last November.

The revised proposal, sought to create “a series of smaller protected areas that include fully protected areas”.

Protection designations were changed in key areas to allow for continued shipping activities, as well as necessary maintenance of critical infrastructure such as channel dredging, moorings and docks.

In areas where fully protected MPAs were adjacent to hotel-owned land, adjustments were made allowing for future permitted tourism development.

The revised plan was not accepted by the FAB because the MPA still covers 20 per cent of the island’s waters.

A government spokesman said then: “Fruitful dialogue and continued engagement from all parties has strengthened the document and allowed BOPP to make meaningful adjustments to the original maps that were released last year.

“These maps are not final versions. However, they do represent months of hard work to incorporate as much feedback as possible from ocean-user groups while still meeting the stakeholder-approved objectives that guide the Marine Spatial Plan. As a result, the newly proposed MPA network does a better job of reducing user conflict and meeting conservation-related objectives.”

The Blue Prosperity Plan includes a Draft Blue Economy Strategy and a Draft Marine Spatial Plan that the BOPP said “work together to create jobs, support local business, improve the economy, and keep our ocean healthy”.

Fishermen presented a petition against the BOPP to the Premier and Cabinet this January.

The FAB letter added: “We have given up our evenings and weekends, devoted long hours to deliberating on the root causes of longstanding issues in fisheries management in Bermuda.

“We investigated different models around the world and watched the UK repeal MPAs in response to action by fishermen’s associations in Scotland and elsewhere.

“We worked with a budget of $0 and leant heavily on the knowledge and experience of our elder members, the energy and enthusiasm of the newer participants in our industry, and the support of our families and community. We continue to be buoyed by the 5,000 signatories of our petition asking for a greater voice for fishermen in decisions affecting our industry.

“We have reflected and we have learnt, and now we propose our vision of what fisheries management in Bermuda could be at its best.

“FAB has worked diligently to create an outline and first draft of a Fisheries Management Plan for Bermuda. It must be understood that this is only a draft and cannot possibly be complete without the input of the governmental body that will ultimately be responsible for its implementation. This will be the first step in the development of a true co-operative management relationship between industry and government.”

It said the plan did contain some specific policy ideas but was primarily meant to define the decision making process for setting policy.

It added: “FAB respectfully asks our Members of Parliament, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the Premier of Bermuda to ensure that our country does not pursue a proposal as divisive and problematic as BOPP has proven to be.

“We must first get back to basics, ensure good management and a respectful working relationship, before we can proceed together, as partners, to develop a comprehensive marine resource plan with the full range of stakeholders.”