Here are some of the menus for restaurants in Grand Bahama (Port Lucaya):

Ferry House New Year's Eve 2007 Menu

Harbour Room New Year's Eve 2007 Menu

Luciano's New Year's Eve 2007 Menu

We will post more menus as they become available to us.

Reductions in catch limits for sport fishing vessels take effect from January 1, 2007:

• From the existing 6 crawfish per person to only six per vessel
• From 20 pounds of demersal fish, such as groupers and snappers, per person to 20 pounds per vessel!
• From a total of six for pelagic fish (dolphins, kingfish, wahoo, tuna) per person to six per vessel
• All fish retained must be kept with head and tail intact while aboard the vessel or transported by air to facilitate identification during inspection
• From 6 conchs per person to prohibiting the catching of conch

Exceptions would be made for persons participating in authorized fishing tournaments, where approved rules set other catch limits.

The following is a response to the New Catch Limits being imposed as of the 1st of January, 2007 for the entire Bahamas.

This is a serious change in regulation that was done without consulting those in the marine industries. No consultation as to what affects it may have on tourism as a whole or if persons in the marine industries have insight as to what previous catch limits were being ignored or disregarded by any persons or groups of persons in particular. The previous catch limits are good, useful and appropriate guidelines that do not promote over fishing. However, that is not the problem; enforcement of those guidelines is non-existent.

If the new guidelines are imposed, I believe this will a have serious negative affect on tourism in the Bahamas. Boating in the Bahamas has a trickle down affect on many, many industries and areas of the Bahamas, including:

• Fuel consumption (taxes levied against every gallon of fuel sold)
• Cruising permit fee
• Marinas occupancy levels
• Commercial and Private passenger numbers
• Airport taxes & FBO fees
• Hotel and vacation rental
• Bars & Restaurants and gratuities paid to staff
• Commission on real estate sales
• Stamp tax to from real estate purchased
• Food Stores
• Retail stores
• Taxi & Public Buses
• Car Rentals
• Hardware & boating supply stores
• Shipping and Customs clearance
• Mechanic & engine service companies

Again, this is a serious change with far reaching implications. Is there a section of the Government that can represent all of the industries and sectors of the Bahamas and do what is best for Bahamians as a whole?

Noel Clarke
Vice President of Operations
Port Lucaya Marina & Grand Bahama Yacht Club

Good points from an editorial in The Bahamas Journal on the NIH Debate:

"If we were to do some research into the background of those people who have reservations about the NHI in its present form, we would probably find that many of them have been donating their time, talent and treasure to help the poor for many years through scholarship programmes, working with and in charitable organizations, and even donating to cookouts. At the same time if we were to research the background of the many vociferous voices who vigorously support the present proposal, we would probably find many of them having done very little to assist their brethren in need. We just may find that many of them fall in the category of those who are often expecting something for nothing. In this regard, we are reminded of a parent who complained when high school tuition was raised by some $50.00 per term, when he was spending that amount on weekly drinking social gatherings. One might say that his priority was all screwed up, a state in which we often find many of our people.

At the moment the demonisation barbs seem directed at the outspoken doctors, the same ones, no doubt, on whom the success of the scheme will depend. From the onset they must be feeling somewhat demoralised, like mere pawns on a chessboard. At the moment doctors are being projected as materialistic hounds in pursuit of wounded prey. We wonder how the demonisers of the legal profession would feel if and how they would be behaving if government similarly pursued the introduction of a national legal aid programme. Would they feel the same if they had to forgo lots of their lucrative legal fees in favour of working in a government controlled system of legal aid, where they had to donate time, talent and treasure or work at the fairly reduced salary similar to the teaching profession or other professionals in the public service."

MIAMI, FL -- Luca Appino, former sport marketing director of high-end tennis racquet manufacturer Babolat, has been named President and CEO of Renaissance Tennis Management Ltd. (RTM)."Luca brings a terrific vitality, not to mention a wealth of technical expertise and coaching experience, to our organization," RTM Chairman Richard DeVries said in announcing the appointment. "The fit is outstanding. It's an absolute ace."

RTM, a corporation based in the Bahamas, manages professional tennis players. Its global roster includes Benjamin Becker, the fastest-rising star on the ATP; Lera Solovieva, a 14-year-old sensation sponsored by Nike; Benedikt Dorsch, two-time NCAA individual champion and three-time NCAA player of the year from Baylor University; and Davis Cup players Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, Michael Lammer of Switzerland and Horia Tecau of Romania.

Appino, 43, resides in Lyon, France, with his wife Patrizia and two children Niccolo’ (9) and Letizia (6). His career almost entirely in the tennis business, including a decade as a teaching pro, Appino is credited with signing such stars as Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, Fernando Gonzalez, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova and many others all when they were almost unknown juniors."Luca is very well known and respected in the tennis industry, he will be based in France also because nearly four in five of the world's top players are from Europe, and his presence there underscore our commitment to nurturing tomorrow's superstars also in that part of the world tennis community," said DeVries.

RTM's head coach and director of tennis operations is Tarik Benhabiles. Based in South Florida, he has coached seven players into the Top 20, including Roddick. His most recent prodigy, Becker, defeated Andre Agassi during the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open, in Agassi's final professional match (before losing to Roddick the next day). Becker has risen from 1400 to 56 in less than a year, the fastest rise in ATP history."Combining Luca's management and marketing skills with Tarik's distinctive coaching and motivational style, and positioning them in two of the most important markets in the world, perfectly positions Renaissance Tennis Management as a global leader in career management for the sport's most serious players," DeVries said.

The announcement of Appino's appointment was made in conjunction with the annual Jr. Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament.

Freeport, Grand Bahama – Almost 2 months after the most exciting competition in Grand Bahama had finished, Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company announced that it had chosen the first of its two names. "Today we proudly announce that we have chosen the name, SANDS as the first of two names from our "Name those beers" competition," stated brewery President, James Sands.

"Eleven contestants entered this name, which means that we have eleven very excited winners. As you know our winners had a chance to win $3,000 for having the winning name we liked. I’m sure you are all calculating what they would have won in sharing their prize today."
According to Mr. Sands over 1,899 entered the competition, which gave the brewery 3,798 names to consider!

"If you calculated $273 each you’d be correct in your sums but not in what we will pay out today," announced Sands, "The board and I have decided to give each winner $500 each. This means we will now pay out $5,500, instead of the original $3,000" Sands noted.
The eleven winners were then announced and came forward to collect their checks for their entry. They are: Berndera Hepburn, Deanna Mosko, Gary Williams, Robbie Butler, Ali Campbell, Tavere Kelly, Anita Osman, Joel Wildgoose, Christine Garvey, Martin William and Agatha Wallace.

The ‘Name those Beers’ competition began on September 1st and gave Grand Bahama residents the chance to win $3,000 by coming up with a winning name for the new brewery’s beers. Each resident was allowed three chances to enter the competition with two original names as the brewery is looking for two names. According to Mr. Sands over 1,899 entered the competition, which gave the brewery 3,798 names to consider!

Sands went on to add that he was thrilled with the overwhelming response the competition had received and advised the media that 90% of the entries were on line via the companies website www.bahamianbrewery.com. It is here on the site where the brewery will make all major announcements and any upcoming updates, like the one today.

‘We are now aggressively working on label ideas as well as making a decision on the 2nd name, which we plan to announce in the New Year," noted Mr. Sands. The company also plans to utilize all the email address they have received to keep these interested persons up to date with the growth of the brewery and of course advise them about employment opportunities, special events and eventually sales of it’s new SANDS beer.

In closing Sands announced that he was "really pleased to be making this announcement today, everyone has been asking me who won, what name did we choose, the response has been overwhelming and we are very excited to start working on our first product. I want to thank everyone who entered and especially congratulate the winners here today, we have one more name to choose so I am looking forward to congratulating the other winners or winner soon."