Residents in the Belize River Valley are raising alarms after discovering scores of dead fish floating along the Belize River-a critical waterway that serves as a primary source of food, livelihood, and culture for the river valley communities.
To find out what's causing the die-off and how villagers feel about it, Jaleeza Roberts traveled to the area. Here is her report.
A river fish gasping for air-most of us have never seen this-but it's what River Valley residents woke up to today. It's a fish kill along the Belize River, stretching from at least Scotland Halfmoon to St. Paul's Bank.
Residents were alarmed when they woke up to see dead fish, river lobsters, river crabs and other marine life on the banks and surface of the river. The water was darker than usual and the fish struggling to respire-many of them lay dead on the banks of the river. This continued for miles along the Belize River and residents are asking why:
Alphius Gillett, Belize River Valley Resident
"I'm very, very concerned because I grew up in this area and my father, my family was farmers. We depend on the natural resources and I first saw it this morning. Someone sent it to me and I'm very concerned. And this is the first time we're seeing something like this in the Belize River. If it happened before, it never happened to the extent of what's taking place now."
Residents are being advised not to consume the fish or use the water from the river right now because the source of the fish kill has not been identified:
Alphius Gillett, Belize River Valley Resident
"It's very, very concerning because if you go along the river valley area, if you go to Maypen, if you go to Grace Bank, if you go to Flowers Bank, all these villages, Lemonal is not the Belize River, but it's connected. It's connected, somehow Crooked Tree is connected to the Belize River as well. The Black Creek area passes through the Biscayne area where I live. So most people either directly or indirectly benefit from the river. So it's not just a river. It's more than a river."
Now, they are making a call for action as their river is their livelihood:
Alphius Gillett, Belize River Valley Resident
"I'm hoping that a proper investigation can be done. And it reminds me of the river. It's very similar. And of course, I'm not passing any judgment. I'm not a technical person here. But I mean, the color of the water, it raises some questions. And I think that the people want answers."
So for now they are confused about how they should proceed.
Jaleeza Roberts, 7News.
We reached out to the Department of the Environment for comment, but up to news time had gotten no response.
