Dear Editor,

I might have missed it, but I haven’t noticed any comment from National Environment and Planning Agency or the Ministry of Agriculture about the deleterious environmental effects of those hundreds of fish pots lost to Hurricane Beryl.

The authorities should have made every effort to educate and, if necessary, compel fishermen to remove their pots from the sea before hurricanes. The above-mentioned agencies might have done that, and the effort escaped my notice, but what is most prominent is the loud cry from fisherfolk about how many pots they’ve lost in the hurricane and the help needed to replace them. Unfortunately, those pots are still active, somewhere in the sea catching untold numbers of fish which then die in the pots and represent a total loss. Those first fish caught in them serve as bait to attract yet others, and on and on, multiplying the disaster until the pots eventually fall apart.

This is not rocket science. We knew of the hurricane’s likely arrival several days in advance. That was more than enough time for fisherfolk to remove fish pots and nets from the sea, not only avoiding an environmental catastrophe but also preventing the loss of the tools of their trade.

We can, and must, do this.

Michael Nicholson

kovsky54@yahoo.com