Rivière Haut du Cap (Mapou), Cap Haitien

In August 2019 I was part of a biological assessment team that surveyed the Haut du Cap River in Cap Haitian, Haiti’s second largest city. Don and I surveyed the aquatic environment of the river, surrounding wetlands, and tributaries, with a botanist and two ornithologists. The river empties into the bay in Cap Haitian where it historically was an estuary. However, people have cut down the mangroves in and along the estuary and have moved in. Every year their homes flood. The area is full of trash and fecal bacteria. People say they don’t see the quantity and sizes of fish they used to see here. Protecting the river and its mangroves would have protected the city from flooding and provided more fish for food. We hope that this survey can increase awareness of the importance of protecting natural areas in Haiti.

The old colonial bridge over the Haut du Cap.

Houses along the river.

Walkway to the boat taxi.

Colorful fish of Port au Prince = invasive guppies!

The canals running along the streets of Port au Prince are trashy and look like disgusting cesspools, but we sampled one along Mais Gate to see what fish were there.  A spring flows into this canal after running down a side street.  The colorful little fish living there were quite surprising.  Further investigation revealed they are guppies!  Dr. Helen Rodd (see her lab website) confirmed this, saying their coloration indicates they "have some fancy, domesticated guppies in their ancestry."

Guppies are in the same family Poeciliidae as the endemic Gambusia and Limia, which means they could out compete these native species if they ended up in Haiti's streams and lakes.

Female

We sampled in the cattails in the canal.

Releasing the fish back into the canal.

Yes, fish live here!

Clear spring water running down the street that comes out at Mais Gate.

Asian carp of Etang Laborde, Haiti

Researchers from the University of Kansas are in Haiti studying the watersheds of Etang Lachaux, Douat, and Laborde, 3 lakes between Camp Perrin and Les Cayes on the southern peninsula.  We heard reports of a large fish called the bout lang that used to be found in Etang Lachaux.  The older residents remembered it from their childhood, and indicated it was about a meter long.  We weren't sure if it was just a tall fish tale until we saw it at Etang Laborde!  A fisherman had caught it and was standing with it by the road as we were leaving Laborde.  It was 78 cm long, and here are pictures.  Further investigation revealed that this is the introduced silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix.  Residents said it was released in 1977.