Gone are the days when the seas yielded bountiful catches and fishermen could fish without a thought of conservation, a magistrate said on Friday.
There was now a need for conservation efforts and two fishermen who were caught with three nets filled with embargoed sea eggs were not helping the cause, Magistrate Douglas Frederick said.
He was speaking with boat owner and fisherman Keith Bynoe, 32, of Christ Church, and fisherman Calvin Sargeant, 63, also of Christ Church.
The two admitted that they contravened the fisheries management regulations by fishing for sea eggs, in the closed season, in the island’s territorial waters on Wednesday.
Bynoe admitted he used his boat to fish for sea eggs during the closed season on the same date.
They were each ordered to spend 140 hours of community service cleaning up beaches so they could “gain information on conservation”.
