NASSAU, BAHAMAS —Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and Planning Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy yesterday confirmed there are no active permits to conduct research in the area of Rose Island.
Her comments follow the sighting of a Beneath The Waves marine research vessel on the south side of Rose Island on August 19.
Eyewitness News reached out to Beneath The Waves (BTW) CEO Dr Austin Gallagher but received no response up to publication.
The vessel, “Tigress”, is featured on the Beneath The Waves website, where it is described as a “fishing-boat-turned-luxury-research-vessel”.
In July, Prime Minister Philip Davis announced the government had selected the NGO to manage the sale of the country’s carbon credits, operating under the Bahamian company Carbon Management Ltd.
Davis noted Beneath the Waves has been doing shark research in The Bahamas for over ten years.
In response to inquiries yesterday, Neely-Murphy said: “We don’t have any active permits for research in that area, and as I said before where there is work dealing with sharks etc, we outline methods and techniques that are prohibited, and chumming of the waters is included in that list.
“If there is open water research, we can give consideration to that because there is not expected to be people around the area but for an island like Rose Island, or anywhere people have the potential to be impacted, chumming the waters is expressly prohibited.
“Chumming is not a practice that we look for researchers to conduct but if you’re in an open water situation where the likelihood of human interaction and human contact is low and you request it, we may give consideration. That doesn’t mean you will be permitted to do it but consideration may be given to that activity under those circumstances.
“It’s not automatic you would get it because you’re in open water,” she added.
Concern over the sighting was reignited yesterday following the deadly shark attack of a 57-year-old Pennsylvania woman near Green Cay some six miles away on the north side of Rose Island on Tuesday.
“The concern is that people were not made aware of it,” said Capt. Andoni Lisgaris.
“So if they’re doing the shark research, how are they doing it? Are they filming the sharks? Are they, you know, just studying the sharks like breeding grounds, feeding grounds, like we don’t know.
He said: “I wouldn’t go out there and accuse anybody of anything. But it’s funny, it really doesn’t sit well that we don’t know anything about it.”
Neely-Murphy confirmed yesterday that Beneath the Waves does not have any current permits from The Bahamas government, with its latest permit expiring in March of this year. She said BTW has a permit application before the department but they did not have any active permits at this time.
Neely-Murphy warned individuals found to be conducting research without the required permits could be issued a cease and desist, fined and you can be denied any future permits.
“You can report any activity of research to research@depp.gov.bs, also inquiries@depp.gov.bs. You can give us a call at 322-4546 or come into the office,” she added.
When asked for an update on the permit backlog, Neely-Murphy said much of it had been cleared up.
“We have cleared much of the backlog with the permits,” she said.
“We’ve worked with individual stakeholders to clear up any issues that would have been unique to specific stakeholders and people have been getting permits now, yes.”
A few thoughts from a former sports fishing captain.
Thought I saw a video on youtube about a research company that believed that Rose Island was an area that sharks were known to spawn. The video was a few years back. If so and the research is correct we should consider what this means.
Further the idea of significant chumming in that area needs to be stopped by everyone as if sharks are already in the area this will only increase the risk of attacks and the sharks will frequent the area…the question then is how to manage it…..Research and decisions will need to be made as to the approach.
However, should not be the can kicked down the road rather some steps can be taken now.
Maybe we need to do like other areas of the world where they send drones up prior to heavy tour days to identify significant shark activity or other methods to protect locals and tourists alike.
The other issue, do our marine biologists need to look at this as to whether the shark population is too high in this area.
Is there a standard mandatory course taught by the government or other organization by knowledgeable persons to all tour operators, which is a requirement for all persons in the business as to deal with this matter including safety, first aid, etc. Would be required for licensing and certification….also would be required for all persons/captains on the boat.
We have a beautiful country, one of the few remaining in the world,…but we also want to ensure we co-exist with nature as safely as possible.
Just a few thoughts but not an expert.