‘Money is on the sea’ - St Thomas swimming with big fish

A common practice in fishing is for men to venture into deep waters to sweep the sea for fish, while women are mostly responsible for preparing the day's catch for sale and cooking.

However, Renea Bowen of Heartease in St Thomas has challenged that head-on.

Developing a keen interest in the craft from she was 10 years old, Bowen shared that while her older sisters would stay home on Sunday mornings to prepare breakfast for the family, she would accompany her mother to the seashore to cast fishing line. The love for fishing accompanied her into womanhood.

"When I turned (an) adult, I realised that the housewife something is not (for) me at all. I didn't like it. I was with my partner and I wasn't supposed to work ... expected to stay home.

"At first, I used to still go by mother and fish with her on Sundays then go home, until I decided to come (to) Cow Bay. I do what I have to do in the mornings, jump on my bicycle, come down and fish on seashore until it was time to go home and look after dinner.

"He (partner) didn't like it and did all sort of things for me to stay home, but my love for the sea couldn't allow me," she shared.

Bowen told THE STAR that she soon outgrew fishing along the coastlines and decided to accompany her brother and other fishermen out to sea whenever they'd allow.

"I decided I wanted more, so I start (to) throw a partner. I asked my brother what's the best thing to get, a pot or a net, and he said a pot; so I used the partner draw to make some. All this time, my gentleman still didn't know. Until he started to ask why I was going sea so often, and I just opened up to him. He was mad, but that was my little pocket money. And though I wasn't short of anything, I just never liked the house thing. We eventually parted; I don't know if that's why, but he began to change.

"Now, I go to sea almost every day, except on Saturdays, because I grew up in the Adventist faith," she shared.

As she began establishing herself as a fisherfolk at the Cow Bay Fishing Village in St Thomas, Bowen said challenges started crashing against her shores. Yet, she refuses to give up. Bowen now owns a boat, which she relies on to make her catch.

"I wasn't getting any help, but my pots were out at sea, so I had to go out. I drove 15 miles out the first time and couldn't believe that I did that. I just had to thank God," she said, adding that with the company of others, for safety reasons, she has since been steering her boat out to sea several times per week.

Bowen shared that people are usually excited when they see her operate as the men in the trade do, as, according to her, women captains are rare.

"They make you feel kind of special. I tell other women to try, but them naah come. It's nice, it's lovely, and you have your own money. All you need is a crew to help you draw the pots and net. I'd advise any woman to try. Money is on the sea," she said.