Galapagos - ban on dive boats

[samui13]

Has anyone else read the below posting. its on an underwater photography site and ive just seen it.

I have no confirmation if this is true or not but thought i would post it here cause I know some of you lucky guys have a charter out in October.

It may be worth looking into with your travel agent (or checking for backup info on the net).

I hope its not true.

lou

"I apologize for posting something others may already know about but I
haven't seen this posted here yet and word is starting to spread around
the 'net. It appears that the Galapagos National Park authority is now
enforcing a ban on all but three liveaboard dive boats in the islands.
The Aggressor and Peter Hughes boats are currently unaffected. It would
appear that they are the only three that were officially permitted to
conduct SCUBA operations there. Rumor had it that all other liveaboards
conducting SCUBA operations have been doing so on naturalist/snorkeling
permits.

One could argue that they are shooting themselves in the foot here by
allocating a lot of resources to enforcement of a ban on something that
brings in a lot of revenue when they could just as easily use those
resources against illegal fishing. On the other hand, one could argue
that the boats should have gotten the proper permits to begin with. In
any event, if you are booked to go there in the coming months you might
want to check with your agent . . .

Mike"

[samui13]

you may want to also read the attached.

Galapagos National Park Dive Permit Impacts - Wetpixel :: Underwater Photography Forums

[Fiona]

Stew

Yes we have seen it thanks, already posted on our thread.