Africa-Press – Cape verde. The president of the São Pedro Fishermen’s Association told Inforpress this Tuesday that the lack of fish in the seas is making life difficult for families in the fishing village, with “several subsistence difficulties, day after day”.
São Vicente: Fishermen from São Pedro complain about the scarcity of fish in the seas, which makes life difficult for families
According to Luís Delgado Andrade, of the 45 boats in the fishing area of São Pedro, only five go to work every day due to the lack of fish, and the owners no longer want to invest in fuel because of the uncertainty of getting a return.
“Normally there are several problems in São Pedro. Not only due to lack of marine resources but also other problems that are getting worse day by day. In addition to the lack of training, fishermen have already noticed that resources are further away and scarcer and poverty is increasing dramatically. We have already held several meetings with institutions and we are not seeing things improving”, stated the association leader.
According to Luís Delgado Andrade, the lack of fish began to be felt since the 2000s, but he revealed that he does not know whether it was caused by climate problems, illegal fishing or the fishing agreements that Cape Verde has with the European Union.
“We are at a dead end. We want to know why the fish are disappearing or why we have to go further to find fish. In São Pedro, at the moment, we have around 45 boats and there are five boats that go fishing daily. In the past, fishing activities, especially tuna, started in April, but we are seeing that day after day they start later. I see many species disappearing”, he said.
Due to the lack of these resources, according to the same source, more and more families are experiencing difficulties and young people who previously lived off fishing are left with no alternatives.
“This affects the lives of families. When a person does not have the means to cover the costs of water, electricity and food, families begin to feel this firsthand. We are feeling this need more in the community”, added Luís Delgado Andrade, for whom, “the salvation of the community” has been the offering of turtle excursion services to tourists.
“The excursion to see and swim with turtles is one of the great employment alternatives, especially for young people and if we notice this, the number of tourists in São Pedro has increased. It’s a shame that we don’t have a database to know how many tourists have arrived here since they started this experience”, informed the president of the São Pedro Fishermen’s Association, arguing that visits to the turtles should be done in an organized way so that each owner of bote to take its revenue and for part of it to be donated to the community.
The lack of fish is also confirmed by former fisherman Arnaldo da Luz, who is considered one of the oldest in this fishing industry, having started at the age of 12.
According to him, in the 90s it was easier to find fish near São Pedro, because resources were abundant.
“Before, it was easier because the fish came very close to the beach and we caught them using low nets and seine nets. Now, the fish don’t appear, they have emigrated. To catch them, fishermen have to go to the islands of São Nicolau, Maio, Fogo, Brava, Boa Vista and Sal but only with large capacity boats”, he concluded.
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