The Carli Bay Fish Festival received a timely injection of cash to the tune of $100,000 from the Proman Group which operates at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. The cheque was handed over to the Carli Bay Fishermen Association at the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce facilities on Camden Road.
Collis Williams, manager at Proman, said the company which controls IPS, Methanol Holdings and Denovo among others, plans to share what it can with fenceline communities and take an active role in upcoming events.
President of the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce Ramchand Rajbal Maraj said the event comes off on June 29 and has a budget of $150,000. He said a large chunk of the budget will go towards paying for police, security and fire services.
The festival will commemorate St. Peter’s Day and will begin with a service blessing of the boats and fishermen. Booths will feature seafood and focus on culture.
Maraj said the event is aimed at promoting domestic tourism as Carli Bay is an unassuming foreign exchange generator due to an unlikely source, the cutlassfish. The fishing community has a bountiful supply of the predatory fishm, also known as the large head hairtail.
It has a distinctive appearance with a long, eel-like body and is silver. Approximately 85 boats with an average of four crewmen have cutlass fish as their main catch due to its abundance in the area.
Carli Bay fishermen have tapped into a huge market for cutlassfish in China and Miami.
