Marva Espuet Lady of the sea

FORTY-seven-year old Marva Espuet has been employed in a “man’s job” for ages, organising and leading a fishing crew from Llyssons, St Thomas. The woman, who also holds the position of manager of the Llyssons Football Club, sat with all woman recently while she prepared for sailing, to talk about her job, her struggles, and that one experience that had her packing up vending and taking on fishing full-time.

Espuet explained that she did well in home economics at her alma mater, Stokes Hall Secondary (now St Thomas Technical High School), and can bake and cook like a professional. But she got caught up in the fishing industry in 1998 by coincidence while working as avendor in the Morant Bay Market.

She said she discovered her ability to fish professionally after a fisherman, Milton “Bun Pan” Williams, who lives in her community, told her she could not live in a fishing community and not sell fish. It was Williams who gave her a huge Snapper (she says 15 pounds) to take to market, and after it sold itself before she could sell any of her regular items, she immediately developed an interest in the fishing business.

But with not much cash in hand, she started to buy on credit fish by the weight, and sell it. This business started to boom and she got even more interested.

“My youngest daughter’s father,” (Espuet is the mother of two daughters and a son who is a soldier in the British Army), “was a fisherman, and I followed him to sea one day to collect some money from a man, and I was told that I would [throw up] and I was so scared,” she said. “I sat flat on the bottom of the boat. I saw a big wave which left a huge volume of water inside the boat. It was a horrible experience.”

But being the woman she is – always trying to make some money – Espuet braved the seas again after offering to buy the petrol for the engine, and got permission. This time she went armed with ground provisions and seasonings to Morant Cay, which she bartered with the fishermen there.

“I could not believe it. I got several pounds of fish in return and took them back to the market and made a lot of money selling most of them, and even taking home some for my family,” she said.

“It became a regular habit for me to make regular voyages to Morant Cay where I would distribute not only food stuff, but also drink as well. And the more I gave these fishermen, the more fish I would receive.”

From the proceeds, Espuet saved her money and bought a 65ft horsepower Evinrude engine, but lack of experience and guidance caused her to lose the engine. She did not give up, but bought another engine, this time a 40 horsepower Yahama, and hired a boat. Tragedy struck again on December 17, 2003, when the boat and the engine sank to the bottom of the sea.

“What hurt most of all was the fact that we navigated and found the area in the sea where the boat had overturned, but after seeing the boat under the water we failed to attach the ropes properly, and the boat was lost forever,” Espuet said.

She was then introduced to a UK returning resident, who after hearing about her ability, gave her full responsibility for running his fishing business with a crew of 30 men.

“I sail at least four times per month when the weather is good, and once or not at all when the weather is bad,” she said. “It’s my job to recruit a captain, fishermen and divers, and also to equip the three boats that we travel on each time we sail.”

Touching on safety on the seas, Espuet said deep sea fishing is no piece of cake. She recalled how a few years ago while out fishing with two boats, her boat was capsized by a large wave, and sank. She had to hold on to an icebox to keep afloat. The other boat had to be relieved of the bait, ice, water and other heavy equipment to accommodate her and her stranded crew.

“I thought that I would have died but I kept strong and survived,” the tough-talking Espuet said.

She admits that one of the things she is glad to have in her possession every time she sails is a GPS device, one of the most modern used by these small boats for navigation purposes.

Espuet said that although there was an ego problem initially between herself and the crew, she got good results from working with them after a while.

“I have a passion for fishing and my dream right now is to get a boat of my own, so I could work for myself and the boss,” Espuet said.

For his part, Espuet’s boss Peter Lake said that she is a strong and determined woman who commands respect and knows what she is about.

“I returned from the UK and bought this 40ft boat and gave it to my half-brother for him to make something of his life,” Lake said. “He wasted this opportunity so I took the boat back from him. When I heard about Marva and the recommendations I received about her, I handed over the task to her.

“I have no regrets with her so far and I have already seen positive results. I am also sure that with more time this business will be a total success under Marva’s management.”

Captain of the crew Everton “Jah Jah” Gregory said that he has been in Espuet’s employ for the past three years and he has no regrets because she is a brave woman.

“I lift my hat off to Marva as only a brave woman would take on the task of leading a crew of so many men to sea. She is very determined and knows her job well – she has a big heart,” he said. “”I feel very comfortable with her. She can hold her own and the crew respects her.”

Espuet’s youngest daughter, 16-year-old Camille Grey, said that she is never afraid when her mother goes to sea, as she is confident that she can handle herself.

“I am proud of my mother. She is very strong and does fishing to support us to become useful adults. I am in Grade 10 at the Seaforth High School and if it was not for my mother I would not be doing so well in school,” Grey boasted.

Added Roman Gayle, Espuet’s 24-year-old daughter, “I appreciate the job my mother does and I support her. But sometimes I am worried as there is no means of communication between us when she goes to sea. There is no [cellphone] signal out there and if I don’t get a message from her from other fishermen who return to land, I don’t know what is happening,” she said.

Her concerns are warranted. In fact fishing, though lucrative, can be a dangerous venture. Fishermen need guts to be able to face obstacles like bad weather and even modern-day pirates out at sea. And that’s why, for her courage, Marva Espuet is a brave lady on the seas.