There are few clearer signs of the destructive power that Hurricane Beryl unleashed on Barbados in July than the scene at the temporary boatyard in the capital, Bridgetown. Scores of mangled and cracked vessels sit on stacks, gaping holes in their hulls, their rudders snapped off and cabin windows broken. Yet these were the lucky ones. At least they can be repaired and put back out to sea. Many others sank, taking entire family incomes with them.
When Beryl lashed Barbados, the island’s fishing fleet was devastated in a matter of hours. About 75% of the active fleet was damaged, with 88 boats totally destroyed. Charles Carter, who owns a blue-and-black fishing vessel called Joyce, was among those affected. “It’s been real bad, I can tell you. I had to change both sides of the hull, up to the waterline,” he says, pointing at the now pristine boat in front of us. It has taken months of restoration and thousands of dollars to get it back to this point, during which time Charles has barely been able to fish.
“The fishing industry is mash up,” echoes his friend, Captain Euride. “We’re just trying to get back the pieces.” Now, six months after the storm, there are signs of calmer waters. On a warm Saturday, several repaired vessels were put back into the ocean with the help of a crane, a trailer and some government support. Seeing Joyce back on the water is a welcome sight for all fishermen in Barbados.
But Barbadians are acutely aware that climate change means more active and powerful Atlantic hurricane seasons – and it may be just another year or two before the fishing industry is struck again. Beryl, for example, was the earliest-forming Category 5 storm on record. Few understand the extent of the problem better than the island’s Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr Shelly Ann Cox. “Our captains have been reporting that sea conditions have changed,” she explains. “Higher swells, sea surface temperatures are much warmer and they’re having difficulty getting flying fish now at the beginning of our pelagic season.”
The flying fish is a national symbol in Barbados and a key part of the island’s cuisine. But climate change has been harming the stock, reducing carbon emissions on the island. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has become a global advocate for change – urging greater action over an impending climate catastrophe in her speech at COP29 and calling for economic compensation from the world’s industrialised nations.
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