Donnie Bunting offers to restock Rio Cobre free of charge

Clarendon businessman Donnie Bunting has made an offer to restock the Rio Cobre with a special species of Tilapia that is conducive to the waterway on condition that the Friends of the Rio Cobre be the responsible organisation in the distribution effort.

Bunting, who provided the fry and fingerling for UC Rusal to supervise the restocking of the river last Friday, told The Gleaner that he has the capacity to restock the river free of cost as often as needed whenever he gets the permit to carry out the exercise.

He disclosed that he has the capacity to supply more than 30,000 juveniles that will be ready in six months to benefit fishermen who ply their trade in the Rio Cobre.

Bunting, who has been farming Tilapia since 1974, does not possess the required permit to carry out the restocking, and this, he said, would severely affect his efforts to transport the fish to the different points.

“I am committed to completely restocking the river, and as soon as Fisheries give me the permit to do so, I will restock the river properly with the St Peters variant, which I know by far is the most suitable because its colour is fixed, unlike the red Tilapia, which is just a variant of the black fish and does not have the kind of survival instinct like the St Peter variant,” Bunting said. He pointed out that he selected Friends of the Rio Cobre because its members are fishermen from the Bog Walk area who have advanced knowledge of the different locations at which to deposit the fish stock.

Bunting continued: “This species is most suited for the wild. I have seen where this Tilapia has survived best in the various waterways. It is the variant that the Bible speaks about when Jesus used the five fish and fed the multitude and is more suited for the wild.”

The fish farmer described the St Peters variant as hardy and said it does not threaten other fish in the river because they are herbivores by nature.

Friends of the Rio Cobre President Kesontard Gordon, in the meantime, said that while he was delighted that Bunting’s gesture would allow the fishermen and their families to resume their economic activities, he believed that UC Rusal should still carry out the restocking exercise it was mandated to do.

He added that with this gesture, barring any further contamination of the river, the lives of those who depend on the river for their earnings would be improved.