Engineering were contaminating and killing off their fish.

The disgruntled fishermen said that after workers finished a day of paving South Shore Road in Devonshire they would clean off their equipment in the bay which killed the small fish that lived there and prevented them from washing off their freshly caught fish with salt water.

Fisherman Mr. Arthur Farias told The Royal Gazette there was a lot of asphalt in the bay due to the cleaning of Works and Engineering equipment.

"I wash my fresh fish in the water and I can't do it now. I am very upset and it is messing up my sales,'' Mr. Farias said.

He added: "In order to get clean salt water I have to get in my boat and go out with buckets. We can't treat our fish with the water that is in the bay.

It's polluted and it's not a joke.'' Fisherman Mr. Calvin Johnston said the asphalt might have a chemical in it that destroys the fish.

"It might create problems. The substance that they put on the road can't be mixed with fish, and it can't be good for people.'' Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said he was not aware of what had happened.

However he added: "Obviously, it was a mistake and we will ensure that it will not happen again. We do apologise, this was not a regular course.

"We should have assured that the equipment was not cleaned in the ocean. We are concerned about the environment and we are now aware of what happened and we are on top of it.'' DISGRUNTLED FISHERMAN -- Mr. Calvin Johnston complains about the damage Works and Engineering workers were doing to fish by cleaning their equipment in Devonshire Bay.