In the northern Grenadine island of Bequia, where tourism and fisheries drive the economy, the impact of Hurricane Beryl is not immediately obvious.
However, in Paget Farm, on the south side of the island, where Bequia’s fishing industry is based, a different story emerges four weeks after the category 5 Hurricane slammed into St. Vincent and the Grenadines on July 1.
Damaged boats and engines; a ramp now in even more urgent need of repair; a jetty that had been falling apart for years before the hurricane struck.
And that is only what can be observed from the shore.
Fishermen tell iWitness News that the hurricane has deposited large amounts of sand on the sea bed where conch used to feed. The molluscs have moved into deeper water, meaning that fishers have to travel further and dive deeper to catch the popular seafood, much of which is exported.
This is the case even as fishers have to pay higher fuel prices and seafood exporters are paying them less for their conch.
But while in Paget Farm fishers are trying to repair their boats, in Port Elizabeth, the island’s capital, a family is wishing they could find the fishing boat in which they had invested over 300,000 eastern Caribbean dollars.
Kenton Chance reports.