Fisheries authority looking into death of fish associated with Rio Cobre restocking

The National Fisheries Authority has moved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of fish just deposited in the Rio Cobre in St Catherine as part of a replenishment exercise following last July's fish kill.

Fishermen today told The Gleaner that dead fish from the Tilapia stock that was deposited at one of the three spots on Friday were seen floating in the river on Saturday.

"Them come Friday and put the fish in the water and even before they left the fish dem start float up on the water, mi even take up two plastic keg and feed my dogs," said Kevin Morrison.

Morrison said he believes the spot known as Pleasant Hill was not the ideal place to deposit the stock of fry and fingerling because it is not the main river source.

Two other fishermen interviewed gave similar accounts. 

Responding to the concerns, principal director for Fisheries Compliance, Licensing and Statistics Division, Zahra Oliphant, said that it was contemplated that some of the fry and fingerling from the stock would not survive.

"Mortality would have been expected but to what extent we are now trying to determine. We have received the report and it has been referred to the relevant personnel for analysis," Oliphant told The Gleaner.

She insisted that no percentage of possible mortality was shared on Friday at the restocking exercise because that could not have been known. 

In a statement on the weekend, the fisheries authority said that the restocking of fish in the Rio Cobre is being properly executed, with the process being driven by science. 

The fish restocking was supervised by bauxite company UC Rusal, which was ordered by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to finance the restocking of the Rio Cobre after the environmental watchdog found the company culpable after the July 2022 contamination of the river that resulted in a huge fish kill.

UC Rusal, which is presently fighting a 2019 negligence case linked to a similar fish kill, up to Friday when the company played the supervisory role has failed to comply with NEPA's order.

The bauxite company has denied the charges in the St Catherine Parish Court, where lawyers representing the entity have argued that there is no case, which has been rebutted by attorneys representing NEPA.

The judge is expected to hand down her ruling on September 15.

Cases involving an October 2021 fish kill and the July 2022 incident are yet to be mentioned in court.

- Ruddy Mathison

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.