Lao Voices

On a foggy morning of November 7 th, a 901-foot container ship sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The crash spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel into San Francisco Bay. Authorities shut down many of the beaches, including Baker Beach, Crissy Field, China Beach, Kirby Cove and Fort Point due to the contamination. The bay was closed off for three weeks but have since made it OK to fish there again. They state there is no significant health risk from eating seafood caught in the oil spill areas.

The spill has not just been bad on the environment and wildlife, but also for the subsistence fishers in the Bay Area. Actually I never knew there were any “subsistence fishers” in the area at all. As a kid growing up in northern California, I remember going fishing with my family and relatives, but it was mostly for fun. Eventually our family just stopped eating the local fishes when we learned about the high level of mercury contamination in the area.

But for Mr. Khamnoi Vilaikam, who is from northern Laos, fishing not only gives him joy, but gives him the ability to feed his family too. I don’t think the mercury contamination is their main concern. The family said the only thing they get from eating the local fishes is the itchy skins. I think they may need to get their bloods check for extra health measures. Besides fishing, they also grow vegetables in their backyard, go crabbing, collect mussels and hunt game birds. So these two local news article (below) were a big surprise to me.

Oil Spill hits poor anglers hardest. SF Chronicle
Jonathan Curiel wrote: “Subsistence fishers - low-income anglers often from immigrant communities - rely on their catches to feed themselves and their family. On a single outing, Vilaikam can take in more than 30 fish - enough to last him, his wife and their three children for a week. In the wake of the oil spill, Vilaikam and other subsistence fishers have abandoned their usual places along the bay for rivers and waterways in the outer regions of the greater Bay Area. Vilaikam has gone as far as the Russian River to fish.”

Laotians lament oil spill’s impact on fishing

CATCHING THEIR MEALS SAVES MONEY, UPHOLDS TRADITIONS

San Jose Mercury
Kim Vo wrote: “The oil spill, which spread its goo on birds and beaches, has reached into the wallets of local Laotians, who number about 10,000 in this part of the Bay Area. Grocery bills are higher. And some are driving as far as Santa Rosa and San Jose to find fish that have escaped the disaster.That brings some relief to Nompraseurt. For years, his group had advised people to limit their consumption of bay fish because of the mercury levels. Some, like Nith Thongvily, heeded that advice. She drives out to Stockton, where the river is “beautiful, clean. You can see the fish. Most, however, ignored the warnings. They reasoned, “if it was poisoned, the fish wouldn’t swim. They would be dead,” Nompraseurt explained. People caught so many fish that they would offer extras to friends. Seayang, who has fished all his life, was among those casting regularly in local waters. In his homeland, he built a dam and trapped fish in a basket or honed reeds into needle-sharp hooks that fastened to bamboo sticks. After he came to America in 1990, he bought poles - thick aluminum ones for striped bass and small, lightweight models for crappie.”