Assembly Former Tourism Minister C. V. (Jim) Woolridge challenged the PLP's Arthur Hodgson to go "head to head'' with him on the tourism front.

St. George's North MP Delaey Robinson said Government had maintained the two thirds air arrivals to one third cruise arrivals ratio and that the UBP had "allowed the product to deteriorate''.

He accused UBP MP Trevor Moniz of making a "long-winded personal attack'' on Mr. Hodgson and said that magistrates did not make political decisions.

In one fishing case in which Mr. Hodgson was involved, the constitution protects citizens from confiscation of their property, and he was surprised Mr. Moniz, who is also a lawyer, did not know that.

He said Government supported a fish pot ban until the foreseeable future and would only make a decision based on evidence "when and if'' the ban is raised.

Mr. Robinson said he was "amazed'' that anyone did not understand the Island's carrying capacity had been exceeded.

"The document is fair when it says Bermuda's carrying capacity is long exceeded. Bermuda's population is way beyond what the ability of the land to support the population directly and the population is supported by the importation of food.

"There was reckless growth. The growth was related to people's desire to make money. If you let the economy grow faster than the population's ability to fill the jobs created, it is very much at the expense of the environment.'' Mr. Robinson said it was a depressing experience to be diving at Ordnance Island at the White Horse Tavern with 20 others from Keep Bermuda Beautiful to remove trash from the sea bed.

The group filled a truck load of bottles and cans in an hour and there was probably several truckloads down there.

Shadow Minister of Finance Grant Gibbons mocked parts of the document and said Mr. Hodgson should have been embarrassed to put his name to sections of it.

He said the report was not structured and had varying levels of content.

And he went on to say the document was ambiguous when it came to explaining what it meant by sustainable development and he said it was unfair to lay blame on over-development on expats.

The PLP's Arthur Pitcher said if the fish pot situation, in particular the size of them, had been properly monitored from the start, they still could have been used today.

"It's unfortunate that the majority of the fishermen had to give up their practises because of a few people out there building these monstrosities,'' he said.

Opposition MP for Smith's North, Cole Simons , suggested research be carried out on the fish supplies in the ocean surrounding Bermuda and then stocks be replenished.

UBP member Erwin Adderley questioned Mr. Hodgson's dedication and commitment to the document, but said he would give him the benefit of the doubt.

But he also said the report was not far-reaching enough. He went on to say that Bermuda may have reached a stage where it had to control the marine environment in the same way it controls the land development.

Opposition leader Pamela Gordon finished the debate by accusing the document of failing to embrace all issues concerning Bermuda's environment, and she, too, called on greater education and involvement of the young.

Ms Gordon said the fact that Bermuda did not have more swimmers and divers competing in the Olympics was proof that too little was done to encourage the use of our waters and promote them to others.

She added: "We are an Island and many of our young people are not exposed to it.'' And she called on the PLP to make it clear to the public that they agreed with the ban on fish pots.

The opposition leader said if fishermen believed the ban could be lifted soon, and that some members were in favour of it being lifted, they would begin to use them again.

She added: "I do believe it's an important factor for the minister to come out and make a clear statement. People need to have a clear sense of direction.'' Ms Gordon said she wanted Government to be very clear about how it rationalised any ex-gratia payments to fishermen.

The UBP had always been the party of sustainable development, she said, marketing the Island to upmarket visitors to make the most of limit resources.

Although it was accused of keeping blacks down, under the UBP the number of middle class blacks had grown from nothing in the 1960's to up to 75 percent today.

She said Government must give a clear indication of where the country was going and asked whether it was based on zero immigration and zero-base budget which seemed to be inferred.

But she congratulated Government on the green paper, saying it was a very good resource paper.

Telecommunication Minister Renee Webb said it was encouraging to know that so many people and organisations had made submissions to the green paper.

(C.V.) Jim Woolridge Arthur Hodgson