Rio Cobre springs back to life - Tilapia fuels fishing comeback two years after fish kill

Two years after a devastating fish kill left the Rio Cobre eerily silent, the river is once again brimming with life. The waters, once clouded with dead and rotting fish after a toxic spill, now ripple with silver flashes of tilapia, a sight that has revived the hopes of communities along its banks.

Standing near the river's edge in Bog Walk, seasoned fisherman Rohan Malcolm brimmed with excitement as he described the transformation. He said that fish are now in abundance since the introduction of tilapia into the river.

But the veteran of more than 40 years on the Rio Cobre admits that these newly introduced fish aren't as easy to catch as the mullets that once dominated.

"Sometimes, like all now, the fish dem naah bite," he said with a wry smile.

"It is like dem fish get smart enuh, because yuh a see dem, but fi catch dem is a next hurdle to cross. Right now, we a wait on the water to get a bit dark after the heavy rain, so this way dem a guh come up because dem can't see down there, and dem have to come up for food," Malcolm said.

In 2023, thousands of young tilapia fingerlings were released into the Rio Cobre as part of a restocking programme by the National Fisheries Authority. The effort followed a catastrophic effluent spill from a UC Rusal bauxite pond that wiped out nearly all aquatic life. Officials had promised the stock would reach maturity within months -- and, true to their word, the river now swells with fish.

"Right now, depending on the size, you can get the tilapia dem fi like $650 or $700 a pound," he said.

And there is more.

"People can swim again in the water and use it for agriculture purpose. A over 40 years mi a fish in the Rio Cobre, so the river know mi like book. At first it started out as a sport and now we a make money," Malcolm said.

For vendors like Carol, who sets up shop along the winding Bog Walk Gorge, the revival has been just as sweet.

"A lot of people go inna farming and that is why yuh do not see a lot of them out here. But everybody still have a time when dem catch dem fish," she said.

A variety of tilapia fish comprising black perch, red tilapia, and rocky mountain were introduced into the Rio Cobre following the massive fish kill.

"It did pull we down wicked when the pollution did happen, but a whole heap a fish in the river now. Nuff a guh deh there for Christmas as well. So, thanks be to God, we can eat a food," Carol said."

As the river regains its rhythm, Malcolm and others carry with them a lingering fear of another disaster.

"We nuh want no more pollution inna di water," he said, adding that "apart fishing, we nuh really have no form a production round here".