With President Jagdeo’s input…
PRESIDENT Bharat Jagdeo acknowledged yesterday that fisher folk play an important role in the development of this country and committed to facilitating support for them.
Speaking at the first ever National Fisher Folk Convention, he said: “It is important to recognise the contribution that fishermen make to our country, to national wealth creation and also the linkages to other sectors that create employment for our people and livelihood for thousands.”
The Head of State was addressing a gathering which included people in the fishing industry countrywide, schoolchildren, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud and his ministry officials and other sector stakeholders in the International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
He noted that fisher folks operate in difficult situations but observed that major sections of the population are not understanding of the “woes and the problems” associated with the industry.
President Jagdeo said he is prepared to set up a mechanism, with commercial banks, to assist fisher folks operating on a small scale. It will be similar to those for assisting persons seeking to own homes and single parent families headed by women.
He said the latter group benefits from the most recent of such interventions that is in partnership with Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). The initiative, titled ‘Women of Worth’ (WOW) Loan Plan, is a $500M scheme that will see single mothers accessing loans of up to $250,000 without having to lodge any collateral.
Mr. Jagdeo also alluded to other issues that pose challenges to the fisheries sector, among them are enhancing infrastructure, security and increasing local demand.
In relation to the last, he said ways must be explored to increase markets locally, if the international requirement will be “flat” on account of the recent financial crises.
“We have to constantly work at being more productive. If we are more competitive, then we will be able to capture new markets,” President Jagdeo advocated.
He indicated, too, that the conference participants need to address the kinds of help they need to achieve the goals they set themselves.
“We are committed, from the government side, to ensuring that the relative policy environment is in place, the kind of policy environment that you need, from the State, to do all you need to,” he assured.
Research

According to him, research must be conducted into areas, such as new species production, undertakings that are most applicable to Guyana’s climate and deep sea fishing because it is a resource base that is underfished.
“In addition to developing fishing in the traditional areas, we must exploit or use more of our deep sea resources,” he encouraged.
He posited that seasonality needs to be a concept that is more widely understood as the need to have a period to replenish resources is an important one.
Aquaculture is another area on which the President touched and with recent progress in this area, the Head of State pledged to have an excavator dedicated to the enterprise in the future and a special vehicle to facilitate extension services.
“We want to work with small farmers to ensure that they have the starting capital input,” he stated.
President Jagdeo promised to improve and make the process of issuing licences to fishermen less onerous, the fisheries sector having been identified as one of the leading sectors in Guyana’s low carbon vision, due to the fact that it is one of the non-polluting activities.
“It (the fisheries sector) sets itself up for special consideration as we move forward. Some of the resources that we garner from the trading of ecosystem services will have to, at some point in time, be directed at this sector,” he offered.
President Jagdeo exhorted those taking part in the one-day conference to use the time to address challenges at both the domestic and global levels, as they seek to position themselves to face them.
“Unless these problems are addressed, we will not see the sector grow at the pace at which we would like it to grow,” he admitted.
President Jagdeo maintained that the fisheries sector is, at present, important and could be more so in the future.
Minister Persaud, who also made remarks at the forum, said the expected outcome, at the end of the day, is a consensus to confront the problems affecting those in the fisheries sector.
He also took note that the conference provided not only an occasion to deal with challenges but to examine, as well, the opportunities that have presented themselves.
“Challenges also provide opportunities,” Persaud contended, observing that “the key is how to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.”
He said the joint discussions and debate on different issues will inspire the actions required to move the sector to the next level.
Persaud pointed out that around 500 million people rely on fisheries, aquaculture and associated activities worldwide and most of those live in developing countries.
Nutrition
He also informed that fish provides nutrition to three billion people globally and the export value of the trade in fish worldwide is more than the combined value of the net exports of rice, sugar and tea.
In acknowledgement of those facts and others, Persaud said steps have been taken to ensure the sustainability of local stocks.
He said, going forward, the Government’s vision for the sector is focused on a sustainable but yet competitive and lucrative marine capture fisheries industry, in which resources are safeguarded for future generations; a productive, vibrant and globally competitive aquaculture sector that contributes not only to food security and poverty alleviation but also to increased export and foreign exchange; an inland fisheries that is well regulated and monitored to obtain optimum balance of sustainability and economic benefit and working with all stakeholders to ensure the highest level of safety to ensure that mishaps and tragedies are prevented.
Other speakers at the opening session included Mr. Mohammed Khan, Chairman of the Georgetown Fishermen’s Co-op Society; Mr. Beni Sankar, Chairman of the National Aquaculture Association of Guyana (NAAG); Mr. Bruce Vieira, President of Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors and Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul, of  the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
They generally concurred that the conference was an important one which gave recognition to a quintessential sector and can be used to chart a realistic way forward.
Proposals were made and discussed on such topics as ‘Sustainable development of Guyana’s marine fisheries – Shrimp and Ground fish: Ecosystem approach’, ‘Repositioning of the Industry and the important role of small fisher folk’, ‘Security and Safety’, ‘Secure livelihoods Programme’, ‘Approach to Fisheries Management in Guyana’, and ‘Mangrove Restoration and its importance to the fisheries sector’.