apparently some captains and owners claim they don’t know fishing is illegal within Exuma Park Boundaries... hard to believe they don’t but that excuse doesn’t work. This is the second incident in a month. 63’ sportfish impounded and crew sent to Nassau... https://m.facebook.com/notes/bahama...n-exuma-cays-land-sea-park/10156491318594819/
Are you getting other information, as that article says nothing about the vessel being impounded? The fish and fishing apparatus were. The vessel and crew were taken to Coral Harbor.
https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/07/09/poaching-in-exuma-park-continues-to-be-a-challenge/ No idea what eventually happens and how long it takes for the crew and boat to be released but they were taken to Coral Harbor, NP.
I read the article and it was as I said. Equipment impounded, crew and boat to Coral Harbor. I would imagine release will come when very sizable fines have been paid based on the number of people and also the size of their catch, which was also impounded. It will not be cheap.
The park rangers in exumas park came up to us at Rocky Dundas in march and asked what we were doing there...….snorkeling......we had no fishing gear on board at all anyways......they told us to be safe and watch the surge and went on their way. I don't see how this SF has done anything that would ever effect what a diver could see in the park. If they're deep dropping we're talking bottom fishing at 400'+ of depth. Most likely 600' deep. Nothing that deep is ever going to be seen by a diver. Seems more like a simple accident and not sure how they could be within the park boundaries at those depths...… The Bahamians poach 10x more than all of the US based SF boats combined take legally when it comes to conch and lobster.
The park boundaries are clearly marked on all charts so it a hard to imagine that they didnt know... They were fined $2500 per fisherman ($12500 total) and released, along with boat. https://bnt.bs/foreign-fishermen-fined-for-fishing-in-the-exuma-park/