Mztrjoe

Fishermen here have been complaining for more then a year how their catches have been declining. Two years ago a fisherman could catch well over a hundred one pound and up fish. Now they have to fish all day for just eight to ten half pound fish. The fishermen here in the Apanas area close to Jinotega say it is the same for both Tilapia and Guapote though the Tilapia are the most common.
It is assumed that it is because of increased pollution of the lake. Fishermen have asked MARENA to look into it. The fishermen have been told that the office does not have the resources and they will have to wait for someone to come here to do tests.
MINSA has sent people here to hand out pills for an outbreak of some skin disease caused by contact with the polluted water. Nothing else has been done since.
There are many possible sources for the pollution. The transport trucks that are brought to the lake each day to be washed and degreased are one source of petroleum and chemical pollution. The smell of diesel fuel at the lakes edge here is very strong and the oil slick on the surface very visible. The other possible sources are untreated sewage from houses and businesses beside the lake and Insecticide from the farmland on the sides of the lake.
Which ever is the reason the result is the same. The fishermen on the southeast end of the lake have to work harder to make a living.