Fisherfolk says customer favourites flying fish and dolphin are still not plentiful

President of the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations (BARNUFO) Vernell Nicholls is hoping that with Easter approaching there is adequate fish for all, but warns that the well-loved flying fish is still very limited.

She told Barbados TODAY that some fishing vessels have been returning from trips with only 500 flying fish and sometimes 20 dolphins and she predicts there may be a repeat of Easter 2021 with very limited supply.

“Last year we didn’t really have a lot of flying fish either but this Easter seems to be even worse because we were still getting some. We are now two or three weeks away from Easter so I don’t want to jump the gun and say that the fish would not come, but I am hoping and anticipating.

“I was speaking to a vendor yesterday and they were saying to me that even in terms of the marlin and those larger fish, they are not even seeing much of those either.

“I don’t want to predict whether the price is going to be high or low, but as things are right now we are not seeing the amount of fish to say that we are going to have the best prices that the consumers are going to want to see. Whatever we have we will sell but amber right now is the most prominent fish of all and occasionally you get the dolphins. Every day is fishing day but every day is not catching day,” Nicholls said.

The president explained that many fisherfolk, particularly the women who clean and ‘bone’ flying fish, are unable to work because of the scarcity. She said that some of the folks are trying to make money cleaning and boning the amber fish, but noted that the spaces are limited.

“A lot of the people are not working because they are not landing the flying fish. The few that are working are working with the amber fish. But as I said, the bulk of employment in Barbados in the fishing industry is the vendors that work with the flying fish. If you go through the market, you would see the market, in a sense, empty.

“Now once flying fish is around and you come in the market you would not see that. Some people are working on alternative means of employment right now. I don’t have the exact number of the vendors but the boners at all the markets are not working. And we have an aging population in the fishing industry right now and employment for them in other places is going to be even more difficult,” she said.

However, the fish scarcity is not new. Last December there were also reports of limited supply.

Vendors lamented then that for weeks they have been turning away customers seeking, particularly dolphin and flying fish as fishermen return after days at sea, in some instances, with limited catch. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb