The true cost of using fish pots around Bermuda's waters may not be known for decades, it has been claimed.

And the marine ecosystem may never return to what it was before the 1990 ban came in, as the human intervention may have tipped the balance in another direction.

Agriculture and Fisheries director John Barnes said no one really knows what the true effect of the use of fish pots and subsequent ban will eventually be.

"It has become apparent when you look at fisheries pressure that it will take an awful lot longer than people thought,'' he said.

"What we thought could be five to ten years, so far for one group -- herrings -- they never recovered.

"When you perturb a natural system, you never know what you will get back, you may find an undesirable species becomes dominant. If you think we would get back what we had 50 years ago, that may not be the case.'' Speaking as the 1999 commercial fishing statistics were revealed, he added: "It could be decades, we may have a new equilibrium. No one really knows what the effect is of having fish pots out.'' He said there had been a positive impact on reef fish though, in particular parrot fish.

Last year, 891,617 lbs of fish were caught, down from 942,966 in 1998, and the lowest since 1994.

However, fishermen spent less hours at sea, down from 88,134 in 1998 to 79,911 last year, although there were more fishermen licensed, up 19 from 1998 to 295.

Lobster catches increased by more than 4,500 to 41,942 total and an experimental guinea chick lobster scheme reaped 9,310 shellfish, down just less than 1,000 on the previous year.

Of the different species, groupers, jacks, snappers and sharks all saw increased catches.

Less of species such as turbot, bream, grunts, porgy and chub were caught, and bait species also dropped. There was also a small decrease in the number of tuna and other pelagic fish harvested.

The yearly numbers come from fisherman, and Mr. Barnes said they were highly variable. However, he said checks are done on a few reliable fishermen to monitor how good or bad the year has been.

ENVIRONMENT ENV