The life of a fisherman Weenhayek
This is the life of a fisherman
Who spends his nights on the banks of the Pilcomayo River
Taking advantage of the moonlight and stars,
Hearing the sound of water that carries rocks,
the sound of owls and bats
and the sound of the winds that blow from Aguaragüe
Speaking of fishing is about the life of the fishing weenhayek because our life is passed. For many of us the first food that gives us our parents is fish. Sometimes children who are beginning to fish from 5 years looking like their parents.
I remember many days spent helping in fishing, collecting water from the barge. Then I learned to fish with various tools, hook, red scissors, red skirt, hook, spear, and with trawl or large network. With these tools I've had a very complicated life. When you go to find a good way to go fishing one sometimes suffer from colds, other days we have to endure rain and cold, another day the sun's heat in our heads, sometimes suffer from the wind and dust, other sometimes we are hungry when you can not get even one vogue. When we go fishing at night we have to fight against sleep. The most serious is when we are next to the river and we are very thirsty and can not be taken because river water is very turbid with clay and sand.
The river can only be made between March and September, because the water begins to clear, then the water becomes cloudy, this year has not been clarified water as before.
In the 1970s there was talk of contamination of the Pilcomayo River, did not see any effect, the river was very healthy, I remember I was very current, very deep backwaters had had so much water that you could not go walking, we had to find a stick and cross with that stick to probe the depth of the river. But now the river is about many things: water diversions for irrigation and other problems. It has now been greatly reduced river flow, there is little current and in the dry months from August the river is like a stream. I do not know what will happen next, but in my opinion is to look for alternatives to provide solutions to the case.
Sometimes I go down to fish the river and I realize that one can distinguish the problems that I speak. This is a big concern for us because during the fishing season between April and September people come from all over to fish, to Argentina.
In these months of fishing, most families move weenhayek from communities to fishing camps. Children used to be harmed because they had to accompany their parents on the river and stopped going to school. So we fought hard to get the school calendar regionalized. Now during the fishing season Weenhayek children are in school holidays, and recently returned to school from August to end when the fishing season. Classes are then until April next year is about to start again when the fishing season. So the families are with all their s children in the camps and can work in peace and stay there because they have to complete the loading of trucks and therefore should not go to the community but we must stay in the camps, as sometimes is far from the community.
I think for us it is increasingly difficult fishing, I remember that when I started fishing in 1970 to lead the fish to other departments, no more fishing communities both inside or below, for example from Argentina and Paraguay, down consumption only in those parts.
I think not decreased the number of fish but also increased the number of fishermen in the three countries, I think we are taking our sources of life in this up are the same buyers. Years ago the only ones we caught were the original, now up to people coming in trucks gets to fish to sell.
As we must ensure originate and control the management of the river because public officials are giving permission to new people, giving them fishing concessions, many villagers have had problems with the Creole people and we are increasingly cornered.
When the citizen has a good fishing spot and makes a good day, you can win up to 80 Bs per day, fishing at the time you can buy clothes for their children, to purchase your study materials, etc ...
At present it is mentioned that is going to do many things with the river. I think in the future must make a sustainable, as some fish farms have environmental control. That is all, at another time, tell of other things in the life of the fisherman 'weenhayek.
