Fish exporter denies polluting Chaguaramas

Is the unloading of fish from a ship a messy activity or not?

An anonymous tenant of the Chaguaramas Development Authority has complained that the area’s fishing industry is being operated in an unhygenic manner which threatens both property values and its tourist/yachting industry. But a local trans-shipper of fish has denied the charge. In a recent letter to the media entitled “Something fishy at Chaguaramas”, the complainant alleged: “Now we are beginning to witness ugly looking ships coming in like thieves in the night offloading tonnes of fish in an area which is not endowed with the cold storage or other facilities which are required to ensure a healthy and congenial environment. It is not unusual for the fish to be off loaded and spread all over the ground and either transshipped or sold for local consumption. There is no docking facility, no warehousing, no waste treatment plant, not to mention the fact that the waters of the sea are indiscriminately polluted with oil. There is not even the presence of the customs officials”. But pressed by Newsday, the complainant could not point to any permanent mess being caused by the fish offloading.

Newsday contacted one trans-shipper of fish at Chaguaramas. He denied that his activity caused pollution or was unsanitary. Opting for anonymity, he said: “Generally when you are offloading you are taking one fish at a time, up to 150 lb in size, and putting it in a box. There is no cleaning or butchering of fish. Only possibly you may take off the tail but this isn’t left lying about because it makes a tasty meal and everybody wants it. It’s a very clean operation. “Nothing is thrown in the water. None of the boats I handle make a mess or pollution. Fresh seafood for consumption is a relatively clean business”. He said fishing was much cleaner than the industrial operations at Chaguaramas like welding and sandblasting, or the oil industry, whose rigs were serviced in the area. He noted all three businesses - yachting, oil-rig service industry, and fishing, had to coexist at Chaguaramas. He said: “Fishing companies are very considerate to yachties. If anything was amiss with the fishing boats, the Coast Guard, YSATT (Yacht Services Associ-ation of Trinidad and Tobago) and the Harbour Master would all know about it”. Noting that the 30 foot to 70 foot fishing boats he dealt with were not corporate businessses but rather individual small businesses, he called for peaceful co-existence, urging:  “Everybody has to be considerate”. He noted that the fish export business earned valuable foreign exchange for Trinidad and Tobago and provided much local employment.