Cornerstones of a Rooted Economy

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:




Cornerstones of a Rooted Economy
Can the small fishers of Trinidad and Tobago become pillars of a new economy when the oil- and gas-based economy finally runs dry?

by Robin Broad, John Cavanagh
posted Apr 25, 2011


“Have a gas,” a friend chuckles as she bids us adieu from our town of Takoma Park, Maryland. It is a fitting send-off since we are traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, a country known by some for its gas and oil, and by many others for its raucous carnival. We are headed that way neither for gas nor carnival, nor to loll with Europeans at Tobago’s upscale eco-tourism facilities.

Rather, we are journeying to see the other face of the country, to spend time in communities of rooted small fishers in northern Trinidad. Just a few hours away from Trinidad’s capital of Port of Spain, the center of carnival frenzy and the ports from which the oil and gas are shipped, our base is the fishing villages of Trinidad’s rugged northern coast where visitors seldom venture. We want to know: Is an alternative future possible—one rooted in small fishers, small farmers, and the teeming biodiversity of the islands? For starters we want to know: Can small fishers become a pillar of a new economy as this country begins to run out of oil and gas?

“Aunt Patsy,” an avid herbologist and owner of the rambling dormitory-style house where we are staying, leads us down a steep hill from the inn to the fish depot. We are in Toco, a town at the northeast corner of Trinidad where the Atlantic Ocean crashes into the Caribbean Sea. The depot, where fishers store their gear and boats, is a narrow white and green building that abuts the beach and a concrete jetty from which the fishing boats come and go. On the beach, several fishers are pulling large, heavy nets towards their boats—22-footers that are painted white and blue. Others play dominoes on a long table in the open-air end of the building that looks out onto the water. A graceful heron is fishing for his own dinner off the jetty.

We are here to meet Kenny, a retired schoolteacher with a graying beard and sparkling eyes who is now president of the local fishers’ association. He introduces us around, and the stories of the fishing life here in Trinidad begin to flow. We mainly hear stories of people working hard and skillfully and, if they are careful, managing to catch and earn enough to live a decent life. A fisherman in his early thirties with a winning smile recounts how he had earlier worked on a cruise ship: “I tried it out to see the experience, but I discovered I can make more fishing. I love fishing. It is my passion. I know that every day is for fishing but not every day is for catching. You always want to put away things for rainy days.” ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/john-cavanagh-and-robin-broad/cornerstones-of-a-rooted-economy