As more dead fish washed ashore yesterday along Mosquito Creek, a dispute brewed between an environmental activist and fish vendors as to the source of the fish kill.
Fish vendor Fyzul Ramroop is claiming the carcasses were dumped by trawlers in the Gulf of Paria, while environmentalist Edward Moodie believe it is as a result of chemicals in the water.
Ramroop and Moodie had a face-to-face debate in view of the media who were covering the new fish kill at Mosquito Creek.
Over the past two weeks fish, particularly herring, has been washing up along the Mosquito Creek and recently dead and dying fish of varying sizes and types also washed ashore in La Brea.
A fish vendor for over 27 years, Ramroop said he and hundreds of other fish vendors have been out of work since hundreds of dead fish began washing ashore. He said people are afraid to eat the fish.
However, Ramroop who has been forced to dip into his savings to support his family, said he knew for a fact the dead fish were dumped by trawlers.
He explained: “This fish was dumped and we know that it was dumped because we know the fishermen and them who did it. I not going to call any names or point fingers but we know the people who did it.
“It have a time like right now, the Gulf of Paria have a lot of herring and when the herring come in the mullet come in to feed on the herring when the trawler put down their net in the water.
“Remember the boat pulling that net, within ten minutes the whole net does full up of herring and what they feeding on.”
He added one trawler usually catches hundreds of herring, sometimes they bring the catch to shore to sell it and other times if they cannot get a sale for it they would dump the fish out at sea.
He said the birds would usually feed on the carcasses but the wind was blowing in a westernly direction, pushing the fish closer to the shore.
Asked why the fishermen don’t come forward and clear the air, Ramroop said:
“The fisherman and them don’t want to go on record. These herring and mullet what they seeing here is nothing like poison, so far as we know from here it is safe to eat. “
Ramroop said he could not speak about the dead fish in La Brea but was sure the dead fish at Mosquito Creek were not as a result of an oil leak or any poisoning.
“The publicity that we getting, it not doing we justice because nobody wants to buy the fish because they are afraid," he added.
However, Moodie insisted something was polluting the water and causing the fish to die. His estimation was that the fish died on Wednesday but Ramroop claimed they were dead for at least three days.
Moodie said: “This is a new wash-in we are experiencing here, mostly herring, a few cat fish that is what we are seeing right now... fresh fish.
“One must remember yesterday (Wednesday) we discovered an oil well about a mile-and-half out at sea off the Vessigny and Brighton field.”
He claimed the well was bubbling up and there appeared to be a slick of what appeared to be kerosene.
“I have been teaching environmental studies for many years. This what we are experiencing here for the last almost 14 days on a daily basis this is not normal,” he added.
He questioned if a trawler was responsible for the fish kill why were they continuing to dump fish and why have they not come forward, knowing the negative impact it was having on the fishing industry.
He also found it strange that fishermen would throw back salmon and black fish which were among hundreds of dead fish which washed ashore in La Brea.
“Something in this ocean is wrong. No trawler come forward and tell me they have dumped fish for 14 days now and the quantity of fish we are seeing it is not adding up,” he added.
Moodie said he was told the leaking oil well had been spilling gas into the sea for a long time and the situation was getting worse.
He added: “Right now they are out there in the area trying to see what they could do but that well could only be capped if they bring in a rig to do that.
“Gas is ten times as deadly as the crude that we are seeing floating. Whenever we have oil spills the gas dissolves in the water instantly. It causes the nervous system damage. It causes skin cancer, skin damage and fish to die.
“We are asking the authorities to stop passing blame and stop talking about trawlers and find the problem and deal with it. We want our waters in the Gulf of Paria to become safe again and it is not going to happen with lies and deceit.”
In a release EMA did not link the oil leak discovery to the dead fish.
However, it stated a joint aerial helicopter survey with several responder agencies was expected to be done yesterday to make an initial assessment of the reported sheen.