By Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter
Two fishermen from the Rae Town fishing beach, Roosevelt Thomas, 44, left, and 68-year-old Lloyd Ellwood, right, who has been fishing for 45 years, show their empty fish nets. They say the effects of the dredging at the Kingston Harbour have chased away the fish. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
HUNDREDS OF Corporate Area fishermen continue to report shrinking catches of fish as a result of dredging operations in the Kingston Harbour. Although dredging ended last year, some fishermen are now reporting a new threat in some fishing areas. Sharks!
"Mi boat, it mash up bad bad. Me buy two net and mi caan fish with none of them now because shark bust them up, if you ever see how sharks tear it up and is a plastic net," says Henry Tucker, a fisherman from the Rae Town fishing beach.
He points out that in some fishing areas where fishermen generally get good catches such as between Two Point and Lagos, below Old Harbour: "as you hook a fish shark take it and you can't save it." Tucker has several scars on his hands which he says came from bites inflicted by sharks caught in his fishing net.
Roosevelt Thomas, another fisherman who has been fishing for 26 years, confirms Tucker's story of shark infestation in the Harbour. He explains that the sludge generated by the six-month long dredging activity in the Kingston Harbour last year was dumped too close to corals on the south coast which wiped out much of the fish population.
These corals once served as feeding grounds for sharks and other predator fish. The competition for the dwindling fish resources, says Thomas, has got so bad now that the sharks are now chasing meals closer to shore.
"When you catch a fish we find two, three or four sharks chase it. We are now in danger of the shark," explains 44-year-old Thomas.
But Peter Wilson, coastal management officer with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), said he could not substantiate the claims unless they checked the areas noted by the fishermen first. He said, however, that sharks were always noticed on "routine dives" but he has not seen an unusual increase yet.
EMPTY NETS
Meanwhile, fishermen who are still lamenting the effects of the dredging operation say the recent shark attacks are just part of a worsening dilemma which they are hoping the Port Authority and Government officials will seek to address as early as possible via a compensation settlement.
Right now they are dealing with the frustration of empty nets almost every time they go to sea. At the Rae Town fishing beach most of the boats are parked and battering along the shoreline in high seawinds.
According to Tucker, finding bait is now much harder since the dredging operations.
"Before the dredging I could catch all $20,000-$30,000 worth a bait for the day now sometimes is only $1,000, $2,000 worth a bait we ketch fi the day," says Tucker. "Now we need a market fi shark, if we can get a market fi shark maybe we can get something. No bait, pure shark. No fish can't ketch.
"It is like nothing to those guys (Port Authority) who set up the big business down by Gordon Cay. We appreciate it and we know the transshipment help the island a lot. And we like to see the ships coming and going but what about us the fishermen?"
For Tucker, fishing has lost its sustenance: "right now somebody a seek out a work fi me. Me a small boat man. Me caan go a ocean," he said.
Out on the Greenwich Farm fishing beach off Marcus Garvey Drive, fisherfolk there say business has been slowed by the excess of sludge scaring away the fish.
Oswald Stackpole, a representative of the Corporate Area Fisherfolk Co-operative Society Limited, told The Sunday Gleaner that the situation on that beach was nothing short of devastating.
"At this time we are still being affected by the effects of the dredging," he said.
He noted that there are fishermen who used to catch up to $4,000 a day in bait now they are lucky if they get $700 worth.
Development officer at the Jamaica Fishermen's Co-operative Union along Beechwood Avenue in Kingston, Anthony Drysdale says that the situation with the fishermen has also affected the sale of fishing equipment at the Co-operative.
"Our sales have fallen drastically," he says.
Sale of fishing equipment at this time, says Drysdale is 45 per cent less than last year. He explains that between January and March fishermen generally start stocking up on new equipment for the new fishing season, however, this year, sales have been at an all time low.
COMPENSATION
Last year, the Government dismissed a $71 million compensation claim made by the fishermen after recent assessment of losses by the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the then Minister of Land and Environment, Horace Dalley said some assistance would be offered to the fishermen.
Since then, attorney, Ronald Thwaites, was retained by the fisherfolk as legal representative.
In an interview last week, Mr. Thwaites revealed that a meeting regarding compensation for the fishermen took place with himself, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke and Mr. Pickersgill and other representatives of the Port Authority in the last two months and progress is being made.
He explains that a committee represented by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture were mandated to pull scientific evidence to prove that the reduction of the fisherfolks' catch is a direct result of the dredging.
"I am expecting that there will be an interim meeting (on the issue) within the next two to three weeks. The fisherfolks' catch which includes that of the shrimpers have been drastically reduced," he explains.
