In just a few days, three incidents have been reported that show how dangerous the sea can be.
First, two fisheries personnel were ambushed and robbed, second 41-year-old Karl Wagner went out in his boat in Placencia and remains missing, and, now, 30-year-old Jarid Usher may share the same faith.
Usher went out to sea on July 5th, but since that first week, no one has heard from him.
Gravely concerned after 22 days, his family decided to take to social media, as well as filing a missing persons report with the police and the coast guard.
Today, Courtney Menzies spoke with his father, who is appealing to the public to be on the watch for signs of Jarid. Here is that story.
30-year-old Jarid Usher went out to sea 22 days ago to catch lobster and his family hasn't seen him since. For the first few days after, he was texting them, but then they lost connection with him. Now, they're fearing the worst and his father, Raymond Usher, said that he had asked his son not to go out to sea the last time they spoke.
Raymond Usher, Father
"The last time I saw Jarid was at my place of work where was at the registry department, just outside. He came to me personally just before he left mid morning on Monday the 5th. That was just prior to my preparing for the memorial service for my dad and my step mother funeral on the 7th and I had encouraged him to stay for that ceremony but unfortunately he said dad we already made all the arrangement, the lobster season is here, and I want to make sure he is out there making things happen and I said alright I'll ride with that."
"Unfortunately I didn't escort him from where the Magistrate Court is to the waterside by Southern Foreshore to see him off because I think I should have done that at the time but unfortunately I didn't do that, I took it for granted all was well for him."
The days turned into weeks and Jarid's mother and sister in the states knew something had to be wrong since Jarid usually sends them photos of his catch.
Raymond Usher, Father
"It was sometime after that we became concerned, a week or so, because he said he would be out there trying to make things happen so don't be trouble if you don't see me within a week. And by that token, we took it for granted, let's hold on another week, maybe something would be brewing up for him. But the time run up and we became a bit more concerned."
Now they've taken their appeal to social media, asking the public - and especially other fishers - to keep an eye out for him in the area he usually goes - English Caye.
Raymond Usher, Father
"He would have been somewhere around the English and Water Caye, that zone, and I couldn't say at sometime he would have gone as far as Alligator Caye but that was way back in the past when he was working with some other folks but as of late, I couldn't say if he had gone that far down during this period that we were concerned about."
"We got a clue just that somebody said that they saw him coming in sometime last Tuesday and by that token we believe that he came in and went out back. The last shipment he made in his fishing was sometime the 2nd of July."
And Jarid is the second person this week to be reported missing at sea, with the first being 41-year-old Karl Wagner. And there is a long list of other men who went out to those dreaded waters and never came back, which only adds to Usher's trepidation.
Raymond Usher, Father
"I'm totally, totally immersed with anxious as to what could have happened, where he is that could delay him from coming back."
"I think he's a really seafaring person a challenging person, because he's the person who would jump off that boat in the middle of the blue, I wish I wouldn't do, and I don't think you all would be able to do that, but he]'s a person, he's attuned to the water, so maybe he's too over aggressive, he's a daring person when he comes to be out there."
But even that love of the sea and his ten years experience as a fisherman, Jarid may find himself among those lost at sea. Still, the family hopes that, like the name of his 20 foot skiff, Jarid will be a "Blessed Youth" and be found alive.
Jarid's family hopes he will return to his 4-year-old son. His father told us that he isn't sure if his son went out alone or was accompanied by another fisher. The coast guard has commenced its own search at sea today.
