Fishers, vendors struggle - JamaicaObserver.com

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Fishers, vendors struggle

Residents lament financial loss following Black River fish kill

BY MARK CUMMINGS Environment Watch senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

GEORGE Johnson, 57, has witnessed many fish kills in his 40 years of eking out a living from the Black River in St Elizabeth. But the one that occurred in September this year, he believes, is by far the worst.

He has been left struggling to provide adequately for his family of seven in the two months since the event, which caused hundreds of dead fish to wash up on the shores of the Black River and its tributaries. And he is fearful that the river will take years to replenish its fish stock.

Idle boats seen at this section of the Black River tell the story of the disruption in the livelihood of fishers caused by the September fish kill.

"It really rough. Right now mi can hardly send mi children to school. I am really struggling. It was just this morning my wife and myself were trying to figure out how we can survive this," Johnson, a resident of Slipe, told Environment Watch.
"Right now mi can't even make $10,000 a week. No fish nah run. Sometimes when me go out there in the days, me don't even catch a $1,000 worth of crabs and fish. It is terrible... really, really rough," he emphasised.

Only last week, Johnson said, his domestic water supply was disconnected due to outstanding bills, and his electricity payments are now in "serious" arrears.
Christopher Baker, another fisherman of Slipe, is a little more hopeful than Johnson about when the fish stock will improve.

"Usually around this time of the year the river get polluted and after about six months things pick up back," said the Black River fisher of more than 25 years.

WILSON... if the fishermen not catching any fish, the community suffers

But in the meantime, he, too, is having a rough time financially.

"It rough pon me now. Mi used to sell over 200 pounds of fish every week and now it gone down to five pounds," said Baker, who fishes on a section of the river called Salt Spring.

Several other fishermen had similar complaints. And they are not the only ones feeling the pinch; so are the vendors.

Vendors complain that the pollution which caused the fish kill has not only led to a decline in fish stock, but has also chased away customers who are unwilling to risk eating fish from water they suspect could still somehow be contaminated.

Christopher Baker's attempts at a big catch turn up nothing but a few fish. (Photos: Phillip Lemonte)

One vendor said she was unable to send her three children to school for several days, having had to dump more than 100 pounds of fish due to a lack of customers over the weekend.

"Business never used to stay so. Everything gone down the drain," another vendor told Environment Watch, adding that things were especially trying for the majority of them who are single parents.

The more than 40 vendors at the fishing village in Slipe made it clear that the fish they sell are not from the river but from the Pedro Keys and Parottee. However, media reports of the fish kill, they claimed, have prevented people from visiting the fishing village.

At the nearby St Elizabeth Safari - one of several companies that offer tours along a section of the river - boat captain Staphen Daley said his company lost thousands of dollars in revenue, due to the fish kill.

DALEY... visitors came here and did not bother to take the ride up the river because of the stench from the dead fish

"Many visitors came here and did not bother to take the ride up the river because of the stench from the dead fish on the river. Seeing the dead fish everybody began to ask: 'Is this water safe?' 'Is this water good? 'Why are the fish dying?' (while) refusing to go on the river," Daley noted.

Fishing is the mainstay of the economy of Slipe, a small community which is situated a few miles from Black River - St Elizabeth's capital. Just over 100 fishermen living in the district earn their livelihood from fishing on the Black River.

"Fishing is what we depend on here. If the fishermen not catching any fish, the community suffers," said Gloria Wilson, operator of 'Sister Lou River Stop', a restaurant and bar in Slipe, located in close proximity to a section the river.

Wilson, who has been doing business there from more that 15 years, is however hopeful that "normalcy" will return to the river, and is prepared to wait it out.

It is still unclear what caused the September 1 fish kill. The National Environment and Planning Agency, which investigated the matter, had initially suggested that the dead fish on the river was caused by dunder pollution from the Appleton Estate. But days later, the agency said that its investigations had turned up no information on the individual or entity responsible.

The management at Appleton Estate, which conceded that it had polluted the river in the past, has insisted it was not responsible for the massive fish kill.

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