PIERRE PAYEN, Haiti — Venturing to sea in tiny boats powered only by sails, fishermen in this remote village on Haiti's western shore struggled for generations through stormy waters and windless days to earn their keep.

Now, outfitted with shiny new fiberglass boats, small outboard motors and sparkling new coolers provided by Food for the Poor, a South Florida charity, they have turned around their village's economy.

Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post (ENLARGE)

Usng wooden sailboats, fishermen bring in their catch in Luly, Haiti. An Atlanta radio station has donated money to help Luly's fishermen.

Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post (ENLARGE)

A Luly fisherman weighs his catch. About 80 percent of Haiti's 9 million residents survive on less than $2 per day.

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"Before we used to make about 350 gourdes (about $9.20) a day," said Pascal Lony, 30, a leader of the local fishermen. "With the new boats and equipment, we sometimes make up to 1,500 gourdes (about $39.50) in a day. Our lives are much better now."

Food for the Poor pioneered the fishing program in Jamaica several years ago, but recently expanded into Haiti, where the global food crisis has hit especially hard.

Some 80 percent of Haiti's 9 million residents survive on less than $2 per day, and the recent spike in food prices has thrown untold thousands of new families into desperation.

"The goal of the program is to make them self-sufficient," said Clement Belizaire, who directs Food for the Poor's programs in Haiti. "It creates a pyramid effect. The fishermen catch more fish and the ladies who sell the fish in the markets earn more. The money spreads through the whole village."

The charity spends about $60,000 to outfit a village with four 25-foot fiberglass boats with outboard motors, coolers, lifejackets and other gear. The group also provides materials for the fishermen to build sturdy cement block sheds for storing the equipment, as well as electric freezers and generators so the catch won't spoil before it can be taken to market.

Despite the high cost, generous donations have helped the program expand steadily. Atlanta radio station 104.7 The FISH helped raised money for eight fishing villages in Jamaica, and also provided funds for a village in Haiti.

"We're very excited about getting the new equipment," said Pierre Rene St. Cyr, a fisherman in Luly, Haiti, where the Atlanta radio station is supporting the program. "It means we'll be able to go much farther out to sea and catch much bigger fish."

Haitian fishermen have struggled for decades with declining catches, a crisis triggered by over-fishing, pollution and sedimentation. The impoverished population uses charcoal for cooking fuel, and charcoal merchants have stripped the countryside of vegetation, triggering erosion that clouds near-shore waters and interferes with the marine life cycle.

Using their primitive boats, the fishermen still bring in plenty of red snapper and other fish, but most of the catch is tiny in size, measuring only six to eight inches.

With their new boats and outboards, the fishermen in Pierre Payen now venture several hours out to sea to deeper locations where the fish are larger. Food for the Poor specialists are training them to conserve the resource so that it will be self-sustaining, and also helping them pinpoint the best fishing spots with electronic fish-finders.

The Haitian fishermen will be given hand-held global-positioning devices to help them locate the choice grounds.

"Before we got this equipment we caught very small fish, only as long as your hand," Lony said. "Now we catch them way up to my elbow. The biggest fish I've caught is a marlin as long as I am tall."