Fishing fear

CARLI BAY Fishing Association president Imtiaz Khan says fishermen no longer fish at night in that part of the Gulf of Paria, where a group of Orange Valley fishermen were hijacked and their boats and equipment taken from them by pirates on July 22.The fishermen were thrown overboard. Five of seven fishermen’s bodies were recovered and several others managed to swim ashore In a phone interview yesterday, Khan said the search for the two missing fishermen would continue, but owing to the cost of the search effort, “It might not be on the scale it was before.”He added, “A boat went out yesterday – the sister of one of the missing fishermen. They had some gas and they were preparing to go today.

“A lot of people want to just get closure in this whole matter instead of just wondering.”

He also mentioned the state of decomposition of one of the bodies that was recovered, that of Alex Sooknanan.

He was only identified by the clothing he wore that night. The casket was reportedly sealed and a picture of the 19-year-old placed aon top during the funeral.Asked whether their livelihood had been affected, he said fishing no longer took place at night or at the location where the men had been attacked. “If any fishermen fish, it will be during the day. We do two types of fishing down here, the seine and the driftnet fishing, which they do at night, and which is what those fishermen were doing.“But it have one or two boats will go out, but they go mainly to the south side. Nobody fishing where we would normally fish outside in front Orange Valley or Brickfield, because of what happened.”A candlelight vigil and march was planned to take place at 7pm on Friday evening. It was expected to begin at Chin’s Supermarket, Carli Bay Road and end at Orange Valley.