Fish sales at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex have slowed dramatically, with rows of idle boats lining the dock as frustrated fishermen struggle for ice and answers.
The flotilla remained tied up at the facility on Tuesday as fishers warned that a worsening breakdown in the complex’s ageing ice system was crippling livelihoods, limiting fishing trips and driving some operators to travel overseas in search of supply.
An angler sorts through ‘old’ ice to salvage parts that can be reused. (Photo Credit: Shanna Moore / Barbados TODAY)
Along the waterfront, captains and crew members gathered near their moored boats, openly venting about mounting frustration after months of recurring problems with the ice machines.
Veteran fisherman Wade Gittens, who said he has spent more than 30 years in the industry, described the situation as a major blow to an already struggling industry.
Veteran fisherman Wade Gittens. (Photo Credit: Shanna Moore / Barbados TODAY)
“There are roughly about 70, 75 boats or so tied up right now. Ain’t going nowhere because there ain’t no ice,” he said during an urgent press briefing at the complex.
“If a boat get ice say this week and go out there and spend two weeks on the sea, when that two weeks up, he has to come back here and spend at least one month and a half unless you could get ice from St George.”
Gittens said some Barbadian boats were now travelling to islands such as Grenada to secure ice before returning home to fish.
“It’s about time now that some things put in place that you can at least have two or three machines to supply the boats,” he said.
Another longline captain, Wayne Rose, said the issue had persisted for years but had recently become far worse.
“Now I see that boats got to leave here to go Grenada to get ice to come back to go fishing. It’s not good. It’s a cost and it’s a journey,” he said, adding that the shortage was now directly affecting the number of trips fishermen could make each month.
He added that the slowdown in fishing activity was also contributing to rising fish prices across the island.
“That is what causing the fish price to be so high too, because you ain’t got enough boats going out to come back in, so the fish coming in slow and the price high,” Rose said
Another fisherman, Roger Cox, described the situation as “more than ridiculous”, pointing to an ice delivery schedule hanging at the facility which he said was now effectively meaningless since several of the listed boats were either docked or overseas searching for ice.
Fisherman Roger Cox points to the ice delivery schedule. (Photo Credit: Shanna Moore / Barbados TODAY)
Others admitted that conditions had become so desperate that crews were sometimes reusing old ice that had already been packed with fish.
Nearby, fishermen on one vessel quietly shovelled through old ice, discarding chunks heavily soaked with blood while setting aside others to be washed and reused – a practice one angler admitted was far from ideal but increasingly necessary amid the shortage.
“It’s not recommended really… that’s the purpose of the ice machines, to help we put fresh ice on the fish. What we do is wash it first, rinse it off, make it look a little better,” he said with a despondent look
“Ain’t that much we could do. I gine do what I gotta do.”
Fish vendors also said they were feeling the strain.
Busy scaling and gutting a few pounds of flying fish, vendor Ikema Sobers said the issue had dragged on for too long.
“Ministers come after ministers… all of we feeling it,” she said, calling for answers.
The growing frustration prompted a visit to the complex by the deputy prime minister and fisheries minister, Santia Bradshaw, who acknowledged that ageing equipment and compressor failures were behind the crisis.
“The fact that these machines have been allowed in a sense ‘til they’ve gotten into this position is quite unfortunate,” Bradshaw said.
“I think it is clear to me that what we need to do is to be able to upgrade the compressors so that you have a better ice machine, but we also need to do some other upgrades overall to the entire facility.”
One compressor had already been undergoing repairs, while another machine, more than 30 years old, developed additional problems after workers detected unusual noises and oil leakage, Bradshaw said.
She noted that plans are in place to improve the market and address the issues on a wide scale but, as a temporary measure, she said the government had arranged for the Wolverine Company to begin supplying ice to fisherfolk from Tuesday afternoon, while the ministry would provide rebates as it had done previously.
Ice is also expected to be sourced from the Millie Ifill market at Weston, St James, to help boost supply levels.
But while officials work towards solutions, fisherfolk say they continue to shoulder the raw end of the situation.
“Every day you leave home is a cost. You got to pay a bus fare or put gas in your vehicle to get here and every time you get here you got to go back home,” Gittens told reporters.
“I realize that the industry is dying because we are getting no help whatsoever.”
(SM)
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