Fishermen from Punta Cardón in the Carirubana municipality demand that “Petroleos de Venezuela SA” (PDVSA, Venezuela’s government oil monopoly), the regional and municipal governments, address the people’s needs after the 65 oil and gas spills that have affected the “Golfete de Coro”.
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They assure that all the fishermen’s councils that work in the Golfete are affected by this problem. Domingo Medina, leader of the fishermen in Punta Cardón, asked the local organizations and the government to meet to find solutions that are real and not that everything remains in promises, as it has been until now.
“Here we are at the Punta Cardón (catch) collection center, where there has been no electricity for a year because a transformer was damaged. We have no cold storage to store the fish. This is one of the countless problems we have in the community. Today we are here and we have no food in our homes, because there is no fishing.”
Medina denounced that fishing in Golfete has disappeared, which is why they have go out to sea to fish to catch any fish, endangering the crew, because the boats and motors are not suitable for sailing so far out.
He said that they receive 120 liters of fuel weekly, which is barely enough for a single fishing trip, which is insufficient to work at open sea. “We need them to take care of the oil spills. They said they were going to seal the damaged pipeline and we continue to see oil stains all over Golfete. Because of the change in climate and the rain, the oil reached the shore of Punta Cardón and soiled the boats, fishing nets and everything in its path.”
Pdvsa Occidente (West) promised to give aid to the fishermen for the damage to the ecosystem, but not all of them benefited from compensation. In addition, that money is not enough to support the families. They say that they prefer to have a healthy Golfete, where they can catch their fish as has historically been done.
The fishermen demanded that the authorities attend to their needs and those of their families, since they are practically dying of hunger due to the lack of marine species in the area.
Incomplete actions
The oil spills have been reported since November 2019, when the residents saw oil stains spreading through their fishing areas. Little by little they noticed how fishing was declining, until now that there are no marine species.
The professor and marine biologist Eduardo Klein published satellite images of a spill on his social network accounts that was near the mangroves of Punta Maragüey and Punta Caimán, both are protected areas for being a sensitive ecosystem.
Fishermen in the area said that the leak was already being repaired, and on Thursday, November 14th, there were divers at the site, but the spilled crude oil is not collected, and that is what causes the most damage.
“The spills can be in the sea for weeks. When they seal the pipeline, they repair it and that’s it, there is no plan to deal with that spill, and that oil settles on the coasts until it kills the entire ecosystem,” said a fisherman.
Domingo Medina highlighted that Pdvsa Occidente was in Punta Cardón on Wednesday, November 13th, taking photos and videos of the crude oil that reached the shore, but he explained that these are actions that are always performed, but the solutions to the serious aftermath are never seen.
Meeting with the authorities
In the municipality of Urumaco, fishermen from Río Seco and Mitare met with the Bolivarian National Guard, the mayor’s office of Miranda, Pdvsa and the Ombudsman’s Office, with the purpose of finding a permanent solution, a plan to address the consequences of oil spills and gas leaks.
The fishermen explained that the pollution situation in the Gulf of Coro has considerably affected fishing activities, forcing most sea workers from the surrounding communities to migrate to other ports, shrimp farms or to fish further out to sea, which constitutes a high risk.
The fishermen asked the authorities to commit to the pre-established agreements and to promote permanent dialogues that strengthen the proximity between all the actors.
The government officials highlighted some progress that has been made for the attention of the citizens, such as the intervention of the school and the food combos that the mayor’s office has been providing for families, although they know that it is not the solution to the problem.
The fishermen ask that the oil and gas spills cease, that the obsolete pipelines be changed and that an environmental sanitation be applied to the Gulf of Coro to recover artisanal fishing in all the affected fishing ports.