Fishing in the Zaza dam barely reaches 40 percent of what was planned

2023-04-21 20:46:37

Photo: José A. Rodríguez

Text: Hugo Leon

At the end of March, the planned plan for the capture of fish in the Zaza dam, the largest in the country, was barely close to 40 percent of what was conceived, according to official figures from the entities involved in the task.

During the entire first quarter of the year, it was barely possible to send some 291 tons of fish out of the 726 planned to the processing plant, according to a recent report from the Sancti Spíritus state provincial newspaper.

The Escambray media regretted that the situation affects not only the productive performance of the entity but also the personal economy of the workers and, in addition, the presence of this assortment on the table of families from Sancti Spiritus.

According to experts on the subject, this situation is due to “the limited manifestation of the species that inhabit the Zaza dam”, without underestimating the strong winds that interfere with fishing operations.

It should also be noted that in recent years the area of ​​operations has been considerably reduced. Something that influences fishermen to have more difficult access to places where fish can be found.

The fishermen themselves indicated that there are not enough fish in development and, therefore, little presence of them. However, the Sancti Spíritus Aquaculture authorities point out that some 100 million cyprinid fingerlings (among them carp) have been deposited in the dam, which represents 95 percent of the spat produced in the territory.

In the opinion of the fishermen, these high stocking volumes also caused the lack of natural food in the dam, which is why the development of the fish is slower. This would be the main reason why fish of smaller weight and size fall into the nets compared to those caught in other campaigns.

Meanwhile, from the newspaper from Sancti Spiritus they affirm that in La Zaza a large number of fish must remain hidden to be caught because neither major hydrometeorological events have occurred in the territory nor has it been necessary to open the floodgates of the dam, an escape route for the biomass growing.