Remembering the past and protecting the future
This week means different things to different people. For many it is the time when we recall the formal outlawing of slavery 200 years ago. The devastating and destructive slave trade finally began its dismantling. While restitution and restoration was impossible, the first brick was laid on the road to freedom and independence for people that had been oppressed, suppressed and distressed for more than a century and a half. (Of course, slavery had existed for thousands of years previous, and continues today in some forms. But for the purposes of this discussion, we refer to the slavery of African people held primarily within the British empire.)
The Slave Trade Act of 1807 outlawed the selling of slaves; it wasn’t until 1833 that actual abolition of slavery – that is, making the holding of slaves illegal – came into being throughout British colonies. It would be another five years before holding indentured slaves was made illegal. (It is interesting to note that it was more than 25 years before this level of abolition became reality in the United States.)
The recognition of this is an important one in the Bahamas, where the overwhelming majority of our population can trace origins to Africa and whose ancestors came to the region as slaves. Sadly, the Emancipation Day holiday is often overlooked in its significance (as this recent article in The Bahama Journal shows). It is simply a ‘holiday’, a ‘beach day’, and another Junkanoo parade. (It is ironic that even Junkanoo celebrations scheduled for this commemoration weekend are often devoid of specific references to emancipation.) After all, emancipation is not just something to be celebrated by black men and women, but should be remembered and celebrated by every morally just and principled human.
This week is significant for another reason (though putting it in adjoining paragraphs with slavery seems almost absurd). Crawfish season opened on Wednesday; the eight-month season (August 1 – March 31) results in the Bahamas’ second-largest export industry (reportedly second only to Bacardi products). The estimated 5.2 million crawfish tails that were exported last year generated more than $92 million in gross revenue to the national economy. This writer recalls standing on the government dock in McLean’s Town, Grand Bahama, last August as a small vessel loaded its catch into a refrigerated truck that we estimated to be worth over $50,000. An incredible value for what appeared to be a single day’s work.
Besides the commonly known rules that govern crawfishing (crawfish tails must not be undersized and females carrying eggs cannot be caught; the crawfish tails are to be a minimum of five and a half inches; no using of noxious chemicals to aid in the capture of crawfish), there are several regulations that may not be so familiar. Such as: spearfishing is not allowed within one mile off the coast of New Providence, within one mile off the south coast of Grand Bahama and within 200 yards of the coast of all Out Islands. We heard of another ‘rule’ this week: that foreigners (supposedly including resident foreigners) are prohibited from participating in crawfishing. Grand Bahama Info spoke directly to the Department of Agriculture and Marine Resources office in Nassau and confirmed that this is not the case. However, we did find that non-Bahamians (including residents) were restricted to a maximum of six lobsters per vessel. Bahamians may catch up to 250 lbs of lobster without a license of any kind; catches over 250 lbs by a Bahamian require a commercial fishing license.
The right to fish in the Bahamas can be considered akin to the right to bear arms in the United States; don’t dare suggest that a Bahamian can’t catch fish in his own country! But let us all remember to play by the rules, for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
Happy fishing!
~ejr~