Hurricane Beryl Aftermath: Fishing Industry Recovery Gaining Momentum, but Challenges Persist

Six weeks after Hurricane Beryl devastated the fishing industry, recovery efforts are slowly gaining momentum, but significant challenges remain.

A recent assessment reveals the extent of the hurricane’s impact: 241 boats damaged and 64 completely destroyed, directly affecting about 800 people’s livelihoods.

Nikola Simpson, founder-director of Sustainable Caribbean, a social enterprise which has been coordinating recovery initiatives with the government’s Fisheries Division, outlined the immediate priorities: “Really, the priority needs now are materials for the repair of fishing vessels, trying to get as many longline vessels back out fishing as soon as possible so that we can hopefully resume fishing activities, restore livelihoods, and also hopefully get some fresh local sustainable seafood back on the plates and also within our tourism sector as soon as possible.”

Simpson, a marine biologist, emphasised the urgency of securing resources for vessel repairs and shipwright services.

“This is still immediate recovery—just getting the boats out. You need the materials for the repairs of both fibreglass and wooden vessels, support for shipwright services for all the shipwrights that make these vessels, and then also support for getting the boats launched back into the water,” she said.

The Rotary Clubs of Barbados have partnered with fibreglass fabricator Fiberpol and the Cave Shepherd Community Fund to donate $30 000 in materials for rehabilitating damaged vessels at the Bridgetown and Oistins fisheries ports.

So far, a dozen boats have been successfully repaired and relaunched, with efforts ongoing to restore many more, Simpson reported. “Over the past almost six weeks, I think great progress has been made. It’s been slow and steady, as you can imagine, based on some of what I shared—the technicality, the risk involved with clearing the complex, making sure that divers were safe, and making sure that fisherfolk were safe.

She added: “There were the challenges of the Sargassum seaweed, which then kind of derailed the process a bit. So it’s been huge. And some people lost their homes; their boats were their homes, their livelihoods, their identity; it’s their income; it’s everything for them. So it’s been hugely impactful. And, you know, you would never think that something like that would have happened, but it’s happened. And as I said earlier, everyone is coming together and rebuilding. And hopefully, as we move forward, we can do this better.”