Be aware of beach policy at Sumay
There is a policy prohibiting spearfishing on Naval Base Guam and its surrounding waters.
January 15, 2015Updated: January 16, 2015
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Isa Baza
Guam - For those of you who have access the beaches in Sumay, Naval Base Guam is reminding visitors about a policy that was enacted more than a year ago. "The policy first off was enacted back in 2013, November of 2013, the reason for that was there were concerns with regards to the density of population, people that frequent the water down in Gabgab and at St. Louis," stated a base representative.
That policy is a prohibition on spearfishing on Naval Base Guam and its surrounding waters. "There's no specific incident that I can specifically refer to, 0204 what I will tell you is, first off, what brought it to our attention is we had what we called a town hall meeting where we had everyone in the community dial into this virtual town hall and they could ask all kinds of questions about whatever it was that they want so one of the new arrivals had asked a question with regards to spear fishing why was the policy the way that it was and so we explained that shortly thereafter there was a Facebook post that I have not been able to confirm nor deny, where an individual said they were at Gabgab Beach , they were swimming or snorkeling, I can't recall, possibly even scuba diving, where a spear ricocheted off of a rock and impacted them," a representative said.
Fishing however isn't altogether off the table. Permitted fishing techniques in designated areas only include hook-and-line fishing from shoreline or boat, and cast netting from shorelines. "Hook and line is authorized in what we call clipper landing, clipper cove, it's authorized over in Sumay Cove, and there's no issues with hook and line for some of the locations on the base, primarily the locations where there are not highly populated frequency of visitors getting in and out of the water," the representative added.
If caught violating the policy, depending on whether you are active duty or a visitor you could be subject to disciplinary action or have your base privileges revoked.
Guam - For those of you who have access the beaches in Sumay, Naval Base Guam is reminding visitors about a policy that was enacted more than a year ago. "The policy first off was enacted back in 2013, November of 2013, the reason for that was there were concerns with regards to the density of population, people that frequent the water down in Gabgab and at St. Louis," stated a base representative.
That policy is a prohibition on spearfishing on Naval Base Guam and its surrounding waters. "There's no specific incident that I can specifically refer to, 0204 what I will tell you is, first off, what brought it to our attention is we had what we called a town hall meeting where we had everyone in the community dial into this virtual town hall and they could ask all kinds of questions about whatever it was that they want so one of the new arrivals had asked a question with regards to spear fishing why was the policy the way that it was and so we explained that shortly thereafter there was a Facebook post that I have not been able to confirm nor deny, where an individual said they were at Gabgab Beach , they were swimming or snorkeling, I can't recall, possibly even scuba diving, where a spear ricocheted off of a rock and impacted them," a representative said.
Fishing however isn't altogether off the table. Permitted fishing techniques in designated areas only include hook-and-line fishing from shoreline or boat, and cast netting from shorelines. "Hook and line is authorized in what we call clipper landing, clipper cove, it's authorized over in Sumay Cove, and there's no issues with hook and line for some of the locations on the base, primarily the locations where there are not highly populated frequency of visitors getting in and out of the water," the representative added.
If caught violating the policy, depending on whether you are active duty or a visitor you could be subject to disciplinary action or have your base privileges revoked.