FISHERMAN Haresh Singh of Sparta village, Essequibo Coast (Region 2) is alleging that last Sunday, as he and several crew members were fishing in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Dartmouth, in his 40-foot vessel which has some 3,500 pounds of seine worth more than $4.3M, another fishing vessel arrived and started to fish in the area as well.

His 3,500 pounds of seine was already drifting in the ocean about one mile from shore when fishermen in the other boat started to throw, ‘over his seine’, hundreds of hooks attached to lines. Those fishermen’s hooks became entangled in his seine; and the captain of that boat, whom he knows as ‘One Eye’, together with his crew, pulled in and began chopping and ripping apart his seine to free their hooks, whilst cursing and threatening him and his crew.
Singh said the hook-and-line fishers regularly attack boats with drift seine so as to steal from them expensive fish like the snapper. He said the damage done to his seine is heart-breaking, and will cost thousands of dollars to repair. This was only the second occasion he had used that seine.

REPORTING
Singh said he reported the matter to the Region 2 fisheries officer and at the Anna Regina Police Station, and was told that drift seine operations are not allowed in the ocean, because there is no law to protect such operations.
The man said he depends on drift-seine fishing for his livelihood, and is now questioning why he is not allowed to continue with drift-seine fishing.
Singh said he had complained several times to the chief fisheries officer in Georgetown about the damage caused to drift-seine operations by hook-and-line fishers, but no relief has been forthcoming. The fisherman said he took a loan from a commercial bank to purchase the seine, and will have to find money every month to pay instalments on the loan.
According to him, problems between drift seine and hook-and-line fishermen on the high seas are escalating to a point of becoming uncontrollable. As such, Singh is calling on the Ministers of Agriculture (Dr Leslie Ramsammy and Mr Alli Baksh) to intervene and sort out the problems, so fishing at sea can return to normalcy.
When contacted yesterday for a comment, Minister Ramsammy said he is aware of the problem.
“I am aware of the problem. The chief fisheries officer (CFO) has informed me that the matter is a police matter and we are awaiting the outcome of police investigation,” Dr Ramsammy commented.
He also stated that “drift-seine fishing is allowed”, and pointed out that there are several Essequibo fishermen who use this method of fishing “without the problem that Mr. Singh is experiencing”.
“I am told by the CFO that he advised Mr. Singh that drift seine fishing is permitted. The CFO is not aware who might have advised Mr. Singh to the contrary,” Dr. Ramsammy told the Chronicle.