Fish safe to eat say Cocorite fishermen

Newsday spoke to veteran fisherman, Darrell O’Brien, who said that fish caught along the North coast posed no threat to consumers’ health and accused environmental activist, Gary Aboud, of fearmongering, and urged members of the public not to be carried away with sensationalism.

“The fish that we are catching is carite, king fish and deep sea red fish. We have nothing to do with what those guys are doing down South.

“The picture that is constantly being reported by the media is the smaller fishes that are washing ashore.

Our fish is safe for consumption because we are getting it miles away from where this oil spill or whatever supposedly happened.

But here we are with bins upon bins of fish that aren’t being sold.” O’Brien said declining fish sales have threatened the livelihoods of many fishermen and can thrust already struggling fishermen into absolute poverty.

“There are guys here who go out early on mornings to start fishing and come in late evening, and since this whole business with the dead fish began, they’ve been losing out on thousands of dollars in sales.

We have North Coast snapper just wasting away in bins because no one wants to buy it.” Other fishermen have echoed O’Brien’s sentiments and urged the media to carry out responsible reporting as their livelihoods hung in the balance.

One fisherman said that thus far he has lost over $20,000 in sales and may have to dump all of his fish if sales continue to drop.

“This is a very sensitive time for us fishermen.

School is opening in a few weeks time and we have school books to buy for our children. I don’t know what will happen from here on in.” Last month, hundreds of dead fish washed ashore along the Mosquito Creek in La Romaine and other parts of Southwestern Trinidad causing a stir among consumers and vendors.

Secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud explained that the massive fish kill was due to the use of harmful chemicals, such as Corexit, by Petrotrin.

However, many fisherfolk in south Trinidad say that the deaths are not related to the use of any chemicals and have called Aboud’s statements irresponsible.