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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
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Bahamas faces ‘full-out assault’ on its fisheries By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS is facing “a full-out assault” from illegal fishing charters and poachers that it must “fight with full force”, the National Fisheries Association’s (NFA) secretary warned yesterday. Paul Maillis, hailing last week’s arrest of a suspected illegal foreign charter through ‘ Operation Red Dawn Two’, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas must further strengthen its maritime law enforcement capabilities by dedicating the fines and penalties imposed on Fisheries Act violators to financing improved marine resource protection. And, echoing Mike Cenci, the senior WildAid law enforcement advisor who played a key role in the latest apprehension, he called for the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office to assign an experienced full-time criminal prosecutor to deal solely with fisheries and environment-related violations. Pointing to the near-$200,000 in fines, penalties and bond payment imposed on Highly Migratory and its crew, the first vessel suspected of illegal charter fishing that was arrested in January 2025, Mr Maillis told this newspaper that cracking down on
• Dedicated prosecutor urged for illegal charters • Association chief calls for reduced catch limits • Warns that Bahamas not ‘sugar daddy’ for US such violators will - in effect - pay for itself. Last week’s apprehension in the Berry Islands marked the second vessel seizure for the year. Asserting that “there’s hundreds” of illegal fishing charters operating in The Bahamas in violation of this nation’s laws, the NFA secretary argued that the present “free-forall system” is too lax in terms of the number of vessels and commercial operations allowed to enter this nation’s territorial waters at any one time.
Airline almost closed over Bahamasair pilot poaching By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN private airline was last year on the verge of closing down because all its senior pilots were being poached by Bahamasair, it was revealed yesterday. Anthony Hamilton, president of the Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators, told Tribune Business there was “merit” to concerns recently voiced by Tracy Cooper, Bahamasair’s managing director, about shortages of pilots and other highly-trained staff
in the country’s aviation sector that led rival carriers to poach key workers from one another. Revealing that Bahamian carriers and Bahamasair met last year to address the issue, as one operator was on the verge of closure due to the latter “taking all their captains”, he added that private operators are placed at a competitive disadvantage because they do not enjoy the national flag carrier’s access to the Public Treasury and taxpayer resources. Mr Hamilton, also Southern Air’s director of
CARRIER - See Page B4
Minister: Skills gaps leave ‘hundreds of jobs’ unfilled By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday blamed skills mismatches in the Bahamian workforce for the Department of Labour’s inability to fill “hundreds of openings” within its database. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, responding to the January 2025 labour force survey which revealed a 52 percent increase in the number of jobless Bahamians since the 2024 third quarter, blamed
“cyclical contractions” and “seasonal lay-offs”, plus “wider trends” in the tourism and construction industries, for the rise. She did not provided a detailed explanation in her statement for why these factors drove the unemployment increase, but doubled down on concerns she voiced at the Abaco Business Outlook about the jib readiness and “unemployability” of many young Bahamians. “It is not simply that jobs are unavailable,”
OPENINGS - See Page B6
Suggesting that these numbers exceed The Bahamas’ ability to properly regulate the industry, Mr Maillis called for a “rethink” that involved reducing daily catch limits he believes are still “too high”. The present situation, he added, is “inviting an endless supply of competition” for Bahamian charter operators and fishermen while also threatening the sustainability of this nation’s natural resources. “The NFA supports initiatives such as Red Dawn 2, and the participation of the Marine Action Partnership (MAP), including WildAid, Customs, the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Defence Force, all learning to work in tandem with one another to finally bring prosecutions under the Fisheries Act,” Mr Maillis said. “Red Dawn One and Two are the first prosecutions under the new Act for these foreign illegal fishing charters. We are pleased these actions are taking place, and many Bahamian fishermen have been feeding tips to law enforcement to help them break up these illegal charter operations. “Many fishermen, including members of the NFA, have been feeding or providing information to the MAP about well-known and some lesserknown foreign charter operations.
DEDICATED - See Page B4
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Cost of living crisis made worse by 65k ‘under-employed’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SIXTY-FIVE thousand under-employed workers exposes why so many Bahamians are struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis and make ends meet, the Opposition’s finance spokesman said yesterday. Kwasi Thompson, the east Grand Bahama MP, told Tribune Business that the January 2025 Labour Force Survey confirms the economy has not been expanding fast enough following the post-COVID reflation to create sufficient jobs that absorb the estimated 5,000-plus high school leavers entering the workforce every summer. Speaking out after the survey revealed more than 30 percent, or almost one out of every three Bahamians currently holding a job, are deemed underemployed and seeking to work more hours, he warned that this nation’s
KWASI THOMPSON employment issues “will not be solved by the Government alone” through merely adding to the public sector payroll. Asserting that the private sector must be the primary driver of job creation and economic growth, Mr Thompson told this newspaper that it was critical for the Government to “remove all red tape” that Bahamian businesses and foreign investors presently endure to obtain the
JOBLESS - See Page B5