Image: Mongabay / FIS

Fish deaths near Rio Tinto mine in Madagascar dredge up community grievances

The following is an excerpt from an article published by Mongabay:

On March 5, 2022, following days of cyclone-induced flooding, executives at the Rio Tinto-owned QMM mine in Madagascar shot off an urgent request to the country’s water regulator. They wanted to release 1 million cubic meters (264 million gallons) of wastew ater into the Mandromondromotra River that flows along the mine’s northeastern perimeter.

A map from Rio Tinto showing the location of the March 5 incident and the location of the release of 1 million cubic meters of mine wastewater. Image courtesy of Rio Tinto. / Mongabay / FIS.

A few days later, Simon Razanandriana’s eldest son, Derrick, came home with distressing news: Thousands of dead fish were floating on Lake Ambavarano, where their family has fished for generations.

The Mandromondromotra drains into Ambavarano, which is one of a string of estuarine lakes located between the mine and the Indian Ocean. The fishing hamlet of Manaka, or Emanaka, where the Razanandriana family lives, sits on the sandy bank separating the lakes and the sea. Plying their dugout canoes on subdued lake waters, fishers can sometimes hear the whirr of the mine’s heavy machinery over the roar of the ocean.

Civil society groups say the mine’s effluent enters neighboring water bodies with alarming regularity, endangering people’s health and robbing them of their livelihoods, and that the mining company is doing little to better the lives of Malagasy people most impacted by its activities. They say the threat posed by the mine grows as climatic changes bring more destructive storms to Madagascar’s shores.

A lake that belches dead fish

Perched at the foothills of the Anosy mountains, the port city of Fort Dauphin has always attracted outsiders: The French­­ — who later colonized Madagascar — established their first settlement here. Tourists are lured by its scenic shoreline embellished with coastal lakes.

The three major interconnected lakes, Ambavarano, Besaroy and Lanirano, supply water and fish to the Fort Dauphin region, including the main city, which lies 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of QMM’s Mandena mining site.  The fishers’ settlements are an hour by foot along a coastal path from the city’s edge toward the mine.

<-- Source: Río Tinto

Word of the fish deaths spread quickly, and many fishers drew a connection between the dirty water they saw entering the lake from the mine next door and the fate of the fish. It wasn’t the first time. In December 2018, following fierce downpours, foul water from the mine flowed into the lakes, several residents told Mongabay. Then, too, the lake waters belched dead fish.

Rio Tinto did not respond to Mongabay’s questions for this story. However, in company documents seen by Mongabay, the mining company reported four such “incidents,” including the latest in 2022.

Derrick, 14, out fishing that March morning, was spooked by the sight and left the fish alone. But others took them home or brought them to markets in Fort Dauphin. Government-assigned experts came, snapped photos, collected water samples and scooped up the carcasses for an investigation. The governor of Anosy region, under whose jurisdiction Fort Dauphin falls, told the communities not to eat or sell the fish.

The governor also announced a fishing ban pending results from the inquiry. As the weeks stretched into months, the information void gave rise to incredulous op-eds about “fish suicides” and rumors of deliberate poisonings. All the while, frustration over the fishing embargo grew. [Continues...]

Author: Malavika Vyawahare | Mongabay. Read the full article by clicking the link here

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