Opinion | We Were Not Invited. We Are the Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association.

*Initially received June 19, 2026

By Levardo Talbot, President, Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association

A prominent figure in the international fly fishing world wrote to me this week. He is a prospective member of TCFFA's international advisory board — a specialist with decades of experience in bonefish conservation across this region. He was writing with indignation, having received the flyer for the upcoming government bonefish workshops through his own private channels. He wanted to know why he had not been invited through us.

I had to tell him the truth: we had not been invited either.

Levardo Talbot, President, Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association

The workshops, organised by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources Management in partnership with an international fishing organisation, are scheduled for July 1 in Providenciales and July 6 in South Caicos. They address issues our members have devoted their lives to. Nobody told us they were happening.

This is a pattern, not an exception. When Cabinet recently approved a ban on the netting of bonefish — something TCFFA firmly welcomes — neither the association nor the fishers who had been netting were consulted. Those people net bonefish because it feeds their families. They deserve a seat at the table when decisions are made that affect their livelihood and ask them to transition into something new. Conservation imposed without consultation is not conservation. It is policy that risks leaving the most affected people behind.

The TCFFA is a young association, but we are not invisible. We are active online, we have met with government on multiple occasions, and we have conducted public outreach across the islands. Our programme is actively supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Agriculture, Fisheries, Heritage & the Environment, endorsed by the Ministry of Education, and backed by Invest TCI — which is investing directly in our guide certification project, financially and technically. The Department of Fisheries contacts us for updates. This year, we deliver our inaugural cohort: the first class of certified fly fishing guides in the Turks and Caicos Islands, through the Community College. The government knows exactly who we are.

Which makes what is happening on the water even harder to understand.

Guides and fishing communities across these islands are watching airboats tear across the saltwater flats — vessels that have been banned in Florida and the Bahamas because of the documented damage they inflict on shallow-water ecosystems. They are being promoted openly in marketing materials for Salterra Resort in South Caicos, a Marriott-branded property, and we are receiving reports of their operation around North and Middle Caicos as well.

"Airboats do not belong on these delicate saltwater flats. They spook the fish, destroy the ecosystem, and drive bonefish from waters that have always been their natural home. Florida banned them. The Bahamas banned them. We are asking why they are being allowed here." — Ed Missick, Catch the Wave Charters

Meanwhile, waterfront properties listed on Airbnb are marketing themselves as informal bonefishing lodges, sending guests onto the flats in kayaks without a licence. Under TCI law, any vessel used for charter purposes — including a kayak — falls within the guiding and watersports category legally reserved for Turks Islanders. These are not grey areas. They are violations of the law, conducted in plain sight, while licensed local guides watch and wait.

TCFFA is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources Management to urgently review the licensing status of sport fishing charter operations at Salterra Resort in South Caicos, a Marriott-branded property. The guiding and watersports category is legally reserved for Turks Islanders. The association has serious questions about whether current operations meet that legal requirement — and is asking the relevant authorities to provide public clarity.

The government speaks often about putting Turks Islanders first in the tourism economy. We believe in that principle. But this week, we found out about our own industry's future through someone else's email. Airboats cross our flats in broad daylight while the fish disappear. Unlicensed operators pocket money that should flow to local guides. The profits leave the country. The damage stays.

Conservation and community empowerment are the same conversation. It is time for government to have it with us — not without us.

Levardo Talbot is President of the Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association. tcffa.info | @tcffassociation