6.9.1. Altoona Lagoon Altoona Lagoon is the preferred landing site for many fishers (Figure 36). During our field visits, the parking lot near the ramp always had one or two pick-up trucks with trailers. On one occasion (a Thursday), we observed up to six trailers parked near the ramp area. Carlos GarcíaQuijano, a member of the research team, spoke briefly with three fishermen returning from the sea. Around 11:00 a.m. there was a line of boats waiting to use the ramp. As reported by the interviewees, a similar scene can be witnessed after dusk. A boat comes close to the dock and drops one of the fishermen off, while the other(s) keep circling round or stalling in nearby waters. The fisherman who was dropped off goes and gets the truck with the trailer and backs down to the ramp area. The boats wait in the water for their turn with the bow facing the ramp. Once the trailer is in the ramp, the captain accelerates the boat (pretty briskly) to the ramp, and kills the motor just in time to avoid crashing into the trailer. The person in the car jumps out, hooks the boat bow up to the trailer chain, secures it with the winch, and off the water they go.
Figure 36: View of Altoona Lagoon
A group of local West Indians, mostly older ladies, were waiting at the dock to buy fish that day (Thursday, July 1, 2004). According to Garcia-Quijano’s observations, the fish was sold as “reef fish” (a miscellaneous mix of grunts, parrotfish, surgeons, old-wifes, surgeonfish, red hinds, and yellowtail snappers). These fish were sold for $5.00 a pound, whole. People would go up to the boat, already in the trailer on the road and ask for four to five pounds of “reef-fish.” The fishermen put up a makeshift weighing station beside the boat and the people formed a line. Six 107
