Dead fishes on Atlantic coastline: Bayelsa communities outlaw ‘Croaker’ fish

Following reports of massive number of dead fishes littering the Niger Delta coastline, Bayelsa coastal settlements have outlawed the catching, eating and selling of the ‘croaker’ fish species.

Mr Leghemo Ebrasin, a youth leader, said on Friday that the traditional leadership had met and passed a resolution that henceforth it was a taboo to have any dealing with the dead fishes.

The youth leader said that Chief Patrick Tobin Ekubo, Chairman, Community Development Committee of Koluama 2 conveyed the decision of the traditional leadership to the people.

He said it was only the croaker fish specie known as ‘brokemarriage’ in local parlance that was affected in the phenomenon.

Residents along Koluama, Ekeni, Ezetu, Fishtown, Foropa, Sangana axis of the Atlantic coastline in Bayelsa, had reported sighting dead fishes littering the shoreline, since the middle of March.

Some of the residents said the incident became obvious since March 15 and had yet to abate, fueling fears of pollution of the country’s territorial waters as a result of the dead fishes.

Ebrasin explained that the communities had deployed the traditional town criers to disseminate the decision of the traditional rulers in the local Ijaw dialects and the traditional sanctions awaiting any breach.

“The traditional rulers have placed a traditional injunction against catching, processing, drying or eating the croaker fish specie amongst the people and fishing ports.

“The community town-criers have been mobilised to sensitise the coastal communities down the stretch of Bayelsa and the message has been going on for four days now.

“Anyone found wanting would have the traditional sanctions meted to him or her so the town criers have been visiting fishing camps and fish markets telling people to avoid the brokemarriage fish,” he said.

It will berecalled that the Bayelsa Government had on Tuesday, urged residents to abstain from harvesting, processing, eating or selling dead fishes currently littering the Atlantic ocean coastline in the state.

The advice was coming more than one month after reports of massive amount of dead fishes floating near the shoreline across the Niger Delta deposited on the coastline by tidal waves.

Mr Warimapo Amatari, Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa Ministry of Environment, in a statement made available in Yenagoa, stated that consumption of the dead fishes posed threat to public health.

According to him, fishermen from coastal settlements should abstain from processing and transporting the dead fishes for sale at Yenagoa, the state capital, pending the outcome of the results of the ongoing laboratory tests