A Vailele fisherman now relies on 'luck' to sell his seafood delicacies on the roadside, unlike before when the income was generous, courtesy of local and foreign motorists who drive past his market when going out of town.

The fisherman, who didn’t want to be identified, told the Samoa Observer that he has had to increase his price for the seafood delicacies, sea urchin as well as mud crabs in order to make profit.

“We are barely getting by these days when people would travel through Vailele to go to the outskirts of town, either for holiday or to visit friends or family, we would have a high amount of sales that would encourage us to sell and catch more to feed people, whether they were local or foreign customers,” he told this newspaper. 

“We sell sea urchin and many other varieties of sea delicacies such as mud crabs or shells.

“As of recently hardly anyone comes by anymore, it’s mostly people who just want something different to have for the night or its by short distance and convenience.

“Other than these instances we count on luck which does not suffice but it is getting us through day by day.”

As the sole breadwinner in his family, the Vailele fisherman didn’t have to look for a reason behind his dwindling customer numbers over the last 12 months, and pointed to the coronavirus pandemic and its wider impact on Samoa’s tourism market.

He accepts that the virus is making life tougher for local fishermen and their families such as his.

“What else can we do but wait? How much longer must we wait?” he lamented during an interview with the Samoa Observer. 

“We depend on most of our fishing revenue sales for more than just our daily needs, this income we use too to put our children to school.

“But since the borders have shut and the nation’s state of emergency, we are making $40 to $60 a day which is a huge reduction from last year when we would get triple if not double the amount. 

“When there is a drop in sales we have only the option of eating what we caught or the food would be a waste of money and time.”

The United Nations, in a report released in August last year, said most Samoan livelihoods have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with 2/3 of households admitting income decline and close to 50 per cent experiencing one job loss brought about due to pandemic restrictions.