GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman (CNS) -- The National Conservation Council is facing a challenging problem because of a compromise the environment minister was forced to make over spearguns in order to gain support from his political colleagues on the National Conservation Law.
As the last parts of the law are implemented, which is expected to be over the next few weeks, the NCC has been clearing up its administrative process for issuing and renewing all licences for fishing, including those for using spearguns in local waters. But the use of these guns flies in the face of the NCC’s directive in law to protect the environment and places it in a legal quandary.
Efforts to eradicate spearguns from being used to fish in Cayman waters were thwarted when government back-benchers rebelled against Cabinet and forced Environment Minister Wayne Panton to accept an amendment to the law allowing local fishermen who had spearguns to retain those fishing weapons. But in the absence of the enhanced marine protection laws, which have not yet been approved by Cabinet, the NCC will struggle, given its legal requirement to protect the environment, to issue any speargun licences.
Discussing the current unsustainable fishing level on local reefs, council members noted that they need to tackle the problem presented by the law that any licensed fishing doesn’t adversely impact species by the ministry.
“The council will be hard pressed to satisfy the provisions of the law for fishing licences when it comes to spearguns,” said Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie, noting that this was especially so without the enhanced marine park protection.
Council members agreed at this month’s open meeting, held this week, that they will write to the minister asking what the council should do in the face of its legal requirements over licensing when it comes to spear-gun applications.
The law effectively prohibits the council from issuing licences that will threaten species, habitats or environments. But even though the conservation law replaces the old marine parks law, without the much-needed enhanced legal protection for marine parks, the licensing of spearguns presents a conundrum for the council which it cannot resolve.
On the one hand the law prohibits the licensing of fishing techniques that would undermine species conservation; on the other it provides for the licensing of spearguns for those who are already in possession of them.
Officials told CNS that around 400 people in Cayman have at one time or another had a speargun licence issued by the old Marine Conservation Board. Once the last part of the National Conservation Law is implemented, that licensing function will be taken over by the NCC, but unlike its predecessor, it must consider strict criteria before issuing any kind of fishing licence.
Those provisions would prevent the board from legally licensing spearguns because of the significant threat they pose to marine wildlife.