Fish Collecting on Bermuda?

[Matt L.]

I am possibly taking a cruise this summer to Bermuda. And of course, my first thought was: fish collecting.

Has anyone tried this before? My understanding is that two fish of a species may be taken each day, and that no fishing license is required.
Does Bermuda have the typical Western Atlantic marine teleost (bony) fishes?
Do I need a permit to bring these fish back into the United States?

I understand that coral collecting is strictly a no-no, as it should be. And this is in no way a desire to collect anything endangered.

I am just curious about the possibility.

Matt

 

[fanaglethebagle]

I'm pretty sure you need a permit to bring them into the US or there would be no fish left in Bermuda.

 

[Aquadiva]

If you're going on a cruise, what are you going to do with the fish???

 

[s_kelley]

I think customs will be all over ya for that one. Ya might wanna pass.

 

[afboundguy]

I just came from a cruise in the Bahamas and researched it for a few days and pretty much you can't do it... I'm not feeling that great and forget the sites I was looking on... You could do it but if you got caught you'd be screwed... IIRC you need a permit/license to do it... Again I'm almost certain on this but there might be loopholes...

 

[Joel A]

you don't want any of the fish in bermuta anyways... only ones i saw that are ever really in reefs anyways were rock beauty angelfish, sergeant major damsels, and some hawkfish/gobies that you might find in a reef. Fun to look at, but nothing personally i'd put in my tank..

I did see one Atlantic blue tang, that was beautiful.. but HUGE. Also saw lots of parrotfish that are very cool as well.

If you have a diving license, go on a late night dive to observe nocturnal creatures like lionfish, and eels... that was awesome.

 

[Matt L.]

You do need a permit and license to do it, but if you plan in advance, the cost is not prohibitive. But no, absolutely do not try to do this without a permit, or you are in deep trouble with the fish and wildlife service.

I'm really uncertain what marine fish life there is in Bermuda. My idea was if I saw something cool and small, I would just bring it back in a 5gal bucket with a powerhead on the last day. It's not like there's a shortage of NSW.

Anyhow, this was just an idea.

 

[fishmom]

I'm more interested to hear how the cruise is. Is it the one out of Boston? Will you let us know if it is any good? And if they have good day trips for snorkeling/scuba?

Thanks!

 

[~Flighty~]

There are cleaner gobies and lots of little blennies. There is a species of butterfly in aruba that is shaped like a copperbanded and they are cute as heck. I think they are in bermuda and might be called a caribbean long nosed?? They are predominantly brown, but really cute and have great personality. I would be after those if I could. They might have garden eels and jawfish around there too, but you have to move a little off of the reef, onto the sand to find them.

 

[~Flighty~]

Prognathodes aculeatus is the fish I'm thinking of. Bring me back a pair, would ya

 

[Joel A]

I'm more interested to hear how the cruise is. Is it the one out of Boston? Will you let us know if it is any good? And if they have good day trips for snorkeling/scuba?

Thanks!

i went on the one out of boston this summer, and to be honest i was not at all impressed.... that was the Norwegian dream FWIW. Cheap cruise, and bermuda was beautiful, but food was no where near what i expected on the boat, and there wasn't as much to do on the boat itself as i had hoped.

 

[Matt L.]

Are they reef safe?
10cm is pretty small. If I can snag some, I would definitely try. Jawfish would be another cool thing to grab.
I wouldn't do something like a rock beauty that has zero chance of survival in a home aquarium.

Matt

 

[~Flighty~]

Those little butterflys I have heard are very similar in behaviour to a CBB. They like featherdusters, but other than that they are general meat eaters and don't bother corals, BUT they are rare to see in the hobby so there are not many first hand accounts. I would try a pair if I could find them. Be sure to take the time to watch them if you see them. They are comical and curious.

You might find royal grammas too. they will be sideways or upside down under ledges and walls.

I have no idea how you would manage to catch any of these fish, especially the ground living ones. I have a hard enough time getting things out of my 120, I can't imagine a 1200000000000000

 

[Matt L.]

Yeah, I imagine its a lot harder than it looks. I just thought if I was there and it was possible, why not? I can't imagine I'd get anything unless I bait them with spray cheese or something.

 

[~Flighty~]

Why am I picturing a news headline about a Local MA man with a pocket full of prawn being eaten by a shark in Bermuda...

 

[stevenp]

I think your biggest challenge will be keeping them alive on the boat. Cruise lines run a pretty tight ship (no pun intended) so there's a chance that you won't even be allowed to keep a 5 gallon bucket of water heated and circulated in your state room as it could pose a risk of flooding the room (in the event they even let you board with livestock).

Gathering NSW might turn out to be a royal PITA too. Some (but not all) cruise lines fill their swimming pools with NSW while they're underway which might be your best bet as you could just dip from the pool. Otherwise you'd have to wait until you're at port, and trying to lug water on board might cause an awkward situation.

 

[gobie1313]

I just dove in december, for 6 days ,2 dives a day. If your diving in a sanctuary, ( which is protected by the government) you are not legally allowed to remove any living species off the reef. Most outfits that run the dives, take a personal responsibility in enforcing this. I know, I tried to take
an empty conch, and the dive master made me drop it. My avatar is the reef sharks that are a plentiful in bermuda.

 

[Matt L.]

That is all good to know. This was just an idea. Many people do stock their tanks with fish they collect themselves. It is a far, far more humane way to collect fish than what we normally buy out of. What commercial collecting outfits do is often really bad.

I have nothing but respect for the reef. As stated above, I would never take something like a rock beauty, as I don't believe these should be in the trade at all. I would also never do anything illegal. Not only is it not worth it, but those laws are in place for a very good reason. For example, corals and inverts are strictly prohibited from being collected (probably why the conch shell had to go back). However, if you can fish in the area, you can collect teleost fish as per the catch limit.

That said... how is the reef diving in Bermuda? What is the marine life like?

Matt

 

[afboundguy]

I was impressed with the fish I saw in Bermuda when compared to Jamaica. Better "reefs" in Jamaica but better fish in Bermuda (at least where we went) we saw over 5 different types of tangs, a few angelfish, bassets, gobies, and tons of awesome looking parrot fish. One of these days I'll get the camera developed and post the pics...

 

[gobie1313]

Exactly what afboundguy said. The VIS is incredible between 60 and 80 feet.
My dive group got hooked on the shark dives. Not as scary as it sounds.
The reef sharks are so used to the routine they are like trained puppy dogs.
We did not feed them with my group, but they were somestimes 2 feet away.
They truly are the most amazing creatures. Strict rules, just dont reach out
because thats a signal of being fed. You must keep your hands tucked in.
We went to the shark dive site 5 out of the 6 days!!!
Bermuda has an abundunce of wrecks, and the largest lion fish i've ever seen.
Plenty of turtles lurking about too.
Check out the shark dive!!!It's an experience you'll never forget.