Bahamas News
Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) Expands Research to Enhance Bahamian Fisheries
Group’s fisheries scientists, policy experts, and board leadership are focused on pre-spawning aggregations to protect key nursery habitats and promote biodiversity
BTT scientist Justin Lewis releases a tagged bonefish. Data from tagging provides information such as when and where the fish migrate and the range of their habitat. Tagging does not harm the fish. Photo: BTT
FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA – Following its recent Board of Directors meeting, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to The Bahamas by advancing research into bonefish spawning behaviors, with a focus on the Berry Islands, North Andros, and Grand Bahama. This work seeks to enhance the sustainability of bonefish, tarpon, and permit populations while safeguarding essential habitats that support diverse marine species critical to Bahamian fisheries and reef ecosystems.
The research will include aerial surveys conducted with the expertise of local fishing guides to identify bonefish pre-spawning aggregations (PSAs) across key locations. These PSAs are central to bonefish reproduction, yet they also represent vital areas that support broader marine productivity. By safeguarding these sites, BTT’s efforts extend benefits to a range of coexisting species reliant on healthy coastal habitats, reinforcing the role these ecosystems play in sustaining local communities and contributing to The Bahamas’ marine economy, which studies have shown generates over $169 million from Bonefishing activities and services annually.
Bonefish school by the thousands at a BTT-studied PSA before heading offshore at night to spawn. Photo: Cameron Luck
Rashema Ingraham, BTT Caribbean Program Director, said: “Protecting pre-spawning sites for bonefish is fundamental, but this work has implications beyond just one species. BTT’s research focuses on sustaining the flats fishery and contributes valuable insights into the broader ecological web. Our efforts to secure habitats essential to flats species are equally beneficial to commercial fisheries and reef ecosystems. These interconnected benefits ensure that local communities and the wider Bahamian marine environment are better positioned to face climate and economic pressures.”
As Ingraham explained, tracking bonefish migrations and aggregations helps inform the protection of diverse habitats that support marine biodiversity. BTT is committed to advancing policies that recognize these connections, which are essential to commercial fisheries and other reef-dependent species critical to The Bahamas’ marine health. This work builds on years of experience with Bahamian fishing guides and coastal communities, fostering a cooperative model that integrates traditional knowledge with scientific research.
A dart tag is implanted in a bonefish before release. Tagging provides valuable information about fish movement and does not harm the fish. Photo: BTT
To date, BTT has identified 11 PSA sites in The Bahamas with the help of local fishing guides, who have shared their knowledge and expertise. BTT has successfully advocated for four PSAs to be protected as part of national parks in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Long Island. Previous research has shown that bonefish can travel as far as 70 miles to reach a PSA site, which attracts large numbers of fish from the surrounding areas. After the bonefish spawn offshore around full and new moons, the hatched bonefish larvae drift for 41-71 days before settling in sand- and mud-bottom bays, where they grow into juvenile bonefish.
Justin Lewis, BTT’s Bahamas Initiative Manager, said: “After bonefish congregate at PSA sites in massive schools, they move offshore at night to spawn in deep water. So, identifying PSAs and ensuring that they are adequately protected is vital to conserving the species for the future. Next spring, our focus will be on tracking bonefish spawning movements at the most recently identified PSAs in Grand Bahama. This will provide further insight into spawning behaviors and timing. We’ll also focus on educating the Bahamian public, guides and visiting anglers about the importance of these sites to the sustainability of the fishery.”
BTT’s research aims to foster an ecosystem-wide understanding that supports fisheries management and policy development. By examining the interconnected habitats that support bonefish, tarpon, permit, and other marine life, BTT is contributing valuable knowledge to inform a sustainable approach to Bahamian fisheries—a need amplified by the increasing pressures of climate change and resource demand.
A bonefish pre-spawning aggregation (PSA) in The Bahamas. Photo: Robbie Roem
Vaughn Roberts, BTT Board Member and Senior Executive at Atlantis Paradise Island, said: “BTT’s science-based approach to fisheries conservation places us at the forefront of efforts to safeguard marine ecosystems. Through partnerships and collaborations, BTT is well-placed to work alongside NGOs, government agencies, and the private sector to promote a shared vision of sustainable and resilient fisheries alongside healthy nursery habitats.”
BTT anticipates that its data-driven approach can strengthen policies and projects that foster ecosystem resilience. BTT’s research aligns with international goals to protect and restore biodiversity-rich ecosystems, support Bahamian fisheries and crucial nursery habitats, and offer a potential model for sustainable marine resource management across the Caribbean.
Captain Shervin Tate, a professional bonefish guide from East Grand Bahama, said: “Working alongside BTT has been a game-changer; they listen to what we’re seeing on the water daily. BTT’s approach isn’t just about the science—they make sure that research goes hand-in-hand with what we know from years of guiding. It feels like a true partnership, where the knowledge we’ve built up is valued and used to benefit the fish, the waters, and the communities that depend on them. Together, we’re keeping our industry strong and ensuring future generations experience the same amazing fishing.”
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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