Thirty-three Dominicans, suspected of poaching, evaded capture by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force over the weekend after they were spotted fishing illegally in waters near Cay Lobos.
According to Defense Force officials, the poachers were a part of a group of 50 who have been fishing illegally in Bahamian waters since last month. Captain Tellis Bethel, Deputy Commander of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, said officers arrested 17 Dominicans on a 70-foot fishing vessel, but the 33 poachers who were on smaller skiffs, headed for Cuban waters to avoid capture and they have now heard from the Cuban authorities that they have arrested them.
The next course of action will be for them to be transported to the Detention Centre to be processed by Immigration authorities and Fisheries authorities. The Fisheries authorities will be pressing charges if they find them culpable of violation of Bahamian fisheries laws.
In October, a delegation met in the Dominican Republic with Dominican officials specifically on the issue of Dominicans fishing illegally in Bahamian waters and President Danilo Medina pledged that the Bahamas’ poaching problems would be addressed.
www.tribune242.com/news/2013/dec/17/17-poachers-captured-33-escape-rbdf/