Planning Czar Addresses Mandahl Concerns at League of Women Voters Meet
PLANNING CZAR: V.I. SPORT FISHING AS EXTRACTIVE AS COMMERCIAL FISHING
~Saturday, March 6, 2021
At a Zoom™ video conference hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Virgin Islands, V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol fielded several vital questions regarding Mandahl Bay.
The LWV hosted the forum to receive an update on creation of the long-awaited V.I. Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan.
The interests of Camp Umoja, ClimateChangeVI.org and the Environmental Rangers interests were represented at the meeting by Karl Callwood. He asked the Commissioner several questions regarding how aspects of the plan would affect wildlife and shoreline conditions at Mandahl.
Under questioning, the commissioner admitted to a lack of regulation of sport fishing which appears to Mandahl enthusiasts to be the top cause of nonseasonal bait fish reduction in the region.
“Bait fish is not one of the species that’s studied or, like, commercially controlled in terms of catch limits,” admitted Oriol. “We don’t have a regulated program for our sport fishing industry … yet. That is something that is moving forward this year”.
Concerns were raised at the meeting over the extended period of low fish presence Mandahl is currently undergoing. Over the past few weeks, many Facebook posters have pointed out a dramatic rise in charter sport fishing vessels harvesting bait in the lagoon since easing of COVID-19 quarantines last Fall.
The public concern seemed to have been mirrored by the DPNR Commissioner when he stated: “The sport fishing industry is just as extractive as the commercial fishing industry“.
The included video has been edited for your convenience to contain only those portions of the meeting directly related to Mandahl Bay questions.
