Written piece
Life of a Fisherman
Stacy Singh
Barbados
About this piece
Fishermen have always been an integral part of contributing to food sustenance. It is a skill handed down through generations and is in no way a glamorous life l, but one of sacrifice, requiring great tenacity. The story merely touches on how the day begins for a fisherman.
The stench of the fish carcasses wafted up Morgan’s nose as the janitor rolled by with the bin towards the incinerator. They nodded to each other and Morgan continued across the fish market where in a few hours the hawkers would be busy scaling and weighing the days catch. They would call out loudly, “fish, fish, get ya fish, six dollar a pound.”
This was his stomping ground since he was a boy. He came here every day with his mother who had her own stall there. Geraldine was there now. When he turned fourteen his father Big John took him on his first fishing trip and the engine failed, setting them adrift into waters of another territory. The coast guard rescued them but the ordeal hardened him to becoming accustomed to this life at sea.
“Morning Morgs, you ready?” A familiar voice called from behind him, interrupting his reminiscences. He turned around to greet his fishing buddy.
“Yeah Boy-O. I have to pay the bank for this boat.” Morgan replied while double checking his supplies in his bucket.
They both walked out to the jetty where he would find Barks, Cod Man and Dunks loading up the ice boat “Serendipity”.
Morgan looked at the boat and smiled for a second.
It was cold and dark and a steady breeze blew. He felt the drizzles of the cold rain on his face. They sped up loading the nets but the rain was not a bother to him. It was the pending storm due to roll in that night and he needed to catch and sell as much as he could before the day was done to feed his wife and children he had left at home still tucked into their warm beds.