Residents of Foropa and Sangana communities of Brass Local Government Area, axis of the Atlantic coastline in Bayelsa state, are in panic mood over sighting dead fishes littering the shoreline amidst safety concerns in the maritime ecosystem.
Some of the residents, who spoke in reaction, said the development was strange and could be an indication of increasing toxicity of the Atlantic Ocean, which could have a negative impact on residents.
Although, there were speculations that there was a leak from one of the offshore platforms, DAILY POST checks through the operators indicated that none of the companies has admitted to be having an oil leak.
Adi Noel, an industry expert said that the incident may have been triggered by the use of dispersant to clean up operational spills.
Dispersant are toxic chemicals used to break down crude oil molecules in deep offshore environments far from human settlements.
Another resident of Sangana, a coastline settlement in Bayelsa Michael Owin, said that people have been seeing dead fishes washed and dropped by the tide on a daily basis for some days and its creating great fears.
According to him, some unsuspecting people have picked the dead fishes taking them for ‘stranded’ and eaten them.
“It is not unusual to find fishes dropped at the coastline after the tide goes down but the number is making us curious to suspect that the marine ecosystem must be getting much toxic.
“The common fish species here are known to be resilient and sensitive, one would have expected them to migrate deeper but their death in numbers may be an indication of crisis,” He said.
Ebi Seigha, a fisherman in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, in a telephone chat with our reporter, said that the fishing communities were worried at the development, adding that they were concerned about the health safety of the catch.
Meanwhile, Mr Alagoa Morris, a renowned Environmentalist, has expressed concern and urged the relevant government agencies to take urgent steps to find out the root cause of the occurrence.
He said that given the location of several oilfields near the Bayelsa coastline there was need for surveillance to find out if the incident has links with oil and gas exploration.
“Dead fishes washed ashore in great numbers are not only a strange occurrence; it points to a very serious environmental safety related matter.
“Such dead fishes cannot be said to be windfall to be happy about by residents.
“And, it is believed coastline communities should be not only be seriously disturbed, but aware of the dangers of consuming such fishes or even processing and selling to unsuspecting members of the public.
“Just as it has health implications, it is also a livelihood issue as coastline communities mainly depend on the sea for the means of livelihood.
“This is why the authorities, especially the Federal and State ministries of Environment and oil industry regulators like DPR and NOSDRA should use their good offices to initiate actions that would lead to the source of this suspected poisoning of the aquatic environment experiencing this phenomenon
“And, the earlier this is done, the better for the general good of all Nigerians,” Morris said.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
