O. Rodger Hutchinson, JIS Writer

Lyssons fisherwoman Marva Espeut. She and others received boats, engines and fishing and safety gear from Food For the Poor, which has been establishing fishing villages around the island.

Though fishing is a literal bread-and-butter issue for Marva Espeut, she still has an almost childlike fascination with the sea.

She makes her living not just by selling fish at the Lyssons fishing beach in St Thomas, but by going out to sea herself.

Espeut enjoys her sea journeys and fares just as well as her male colleagues.

"I grow to love it more that anything. My kids try on several occasion to get me away from the sea, but my love is fishing and I just want to stick to it," she shares.

entrepreneurial spirit

Espeut started out as a fish vendor more than 16 years ago. Exhibiting an entrepreneurial spirit, she soon began expanding her vending operation, hiring boats and fishing crews, sometimes up to 10 men, to go fishing on her behalf. Soon she was going out to sea with them and later on her own.

But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. She recounts one occasion on her way from the Morant Cays with a catch, the boat she had rented capsized, dumping her and everything on the boat in the sea.

"It was an awful experience," she said, adding that it was the ice box that saved her.

Now she is more cautious and listens keenly to weather reports that help her decide when to move.

"Nowadays, the weather is not as good as before. Basically, we're getting maybe three to five days, so I have to have my gas and my ice and as you hear the weather is good, you can't hesitate, you have to just go and get back quickly ... .

"You have to have a lot of guts because sometimes you see some waves out there that you have to wonder how you're going to get through," Espeut adds.

She explains that fishing is expensive business, costing about $30,000 to buy the basics: gas, ice and supplies for a five-day trip. Then there is the rental of the boat, money for buying fish from fishermen on the cays and pay for the men she hires.

"Sometimes I only get a small profit but because I love fishing, I always continue; it's my job," she declares.

A typical day for Marva begins very early in the morning packing and preparing lots of ice, gas, food and supplies and rendezvousing with the crew. She leaves Lyssons at about six in the morning, arriving at the cays by early afternoon. There, she has a meal and sometimes a nap before heading out to fish about 2 p.m.

'don't like fishing at night'

"I don't like fishing at night because I like to see where I'm going. When yuh fish at night, sometimes the sea comes and hit the boat and you don't know where to put the bow," she said.

Espeut says fishing is also a spiritual experience. When she leaves her family at home and heads out to sea, she needs that kind of protection from the perils that lie in wait.

Recently, Food For the Poor, through an initiative in collaboration with several governmental and non-governmental agencies establishing fishing villages around the island, refurbished the Lyssons Fisherman's Beach and handed over four brand- new fibreglass 28-foot boats, engines, and a cache of specialised fishing gear and safety equipment.

Espeut, the only fisherwoman on the beach, was one of the recipients. Their only obligation is to make a mandatory monthly contribution to an established bank account, which will pay for amenities for the community.

Espeut is also very active in her community, bearing responsibilities for a football team, Lyssons United. She also and acts as surrogate mother and caregiver for the families of the men out at sea.

"Sometimes I feel like stopping, but when I look around and see all the people around who are in need, I just keep going. When the Father say to stop is when I will stop," she says.

This is a collaborative feature between The Gleaner and the Jamaica Information Service. Email feedback to editorial@gleanerjm.com.