For the third consecutive week, dead carcases continued to litter La Brea’s shoreline, creating a feast for corbeaux. The stench made it difficult to breath at Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche as hundreds of herrings, together with catfish and mullets lined the coastline, surrounded by oil.
Video by: Kevon Felmine
Last week the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) concluded that the thousands of dead fish found between South Oropouche and La Brea were dumped.
On Thursday, during a tour of La Brea beaches with secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud and environmentalist Edward Moodie, EMA general manager of Technical Services, Hayden Romano also saw first hand, two dead sting rays that washed ashore.
General manager of Technical Services at the Environmental Management Authority, Hayden Romano and secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea Gary Aboud examines the carcase of a Sting Ray found along Coffee Beach, La Brea. Photo: Kevon Felmine
Romano said when they arrived at the creek around 7 am, they did not see any carcases in the water. It was only when they saw a trawler in the gulf, he said they noticed dead herrings washing up. He said samples were taken for testing.
On Tuesday, the EMA and the Institute of Marine Affairs said tests done on the carcases showed no contamination and concluded that they were dumped by fishing vessels.
Photo: Rishi Ragoonath
However, Aboud said if these fishes were caught and dumped, they would bear markings from nets. He said it was not financially sensible to dump as fish sells at $30 and $40 per lb.
Fisherman Wayne Henry shows a dead catfish that washed ashore along Point Sable Beach, La Brea. Photo: Kevon Felmine
“It is unreasonable that anybody would throw away millions of pounds... At Point Sable Beach, fish are washing up every day since the oil spill and this has never happened before,” Aboud said.
He said the authorities were covering up a major liability that was caused by the 2013 oil spill while thousands of families’ livelihoods are being compromised.
Have information about oil on La Brea's shoreline or fish washing ashore? Let us know.