Fisherman slams oil spill payout as unfair

Lam­beau fish­er­man Ed­win Ramkissoon says he lost every­thing in last year’s oil spill—his boat, en­gine, and gear—but re­ceived the same com­pen­sa­tion as fish­er­men who were bare­ly af­fect­ed.

Ramkissoon says his ves­sel Fish­er of Men re­mained stuck in oil for days af­ter the 7 Feb­ru­ary 2024 spill. He couldn’t fish, his en­gine stopped work­ing, and his gear was ru­ined.

But when cheques were dis­trib­uted last week, Ramkissoon was stunned to re­ceive on­ly 40 per­cent of his claim—the same pro­por­tion as oth­ers who had still been able to go to sea.