…to acquire license to fish, says Fishermen’s Co-op Society

GUYANESE fishermen, who ply their trade in Suriname waters, have complained consistently about the exploitative system in place to acquire a licence to operate in that country, a complaint which has since reached local authorities, who are actively engaging Surinamese officials on the issue.

The Guyana Chronicle, during a recent visit to the Upper Corentyne Fishermen’s Co-op Society (UCFCS) at the Number 66 Village, learnt that the cost of a licence to operate in Suriname has quadrupled over the past few years.

“We have been fishing in Suriname waters for years, but the cost of the licence is too much…we are being exploited by the Surinamese middlemen who take out the licence and rent it to us,” said Chairman of UCFCS, Pameshwar Jainarine during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
This arrangement is said to be more traditional than official because it has been ongoing for decades, and has been the only alternative for locals, given their inability access licences directly from authorities in Suriname.

It was reported in the past that Suriname was reluctant to distribute licences to Guyanese because it would not leave room for Surinamese fishermen.
In the absence of an official arrangement between Guyana and Suriname, fishermen, who rely heavily on their trade to earn a living, have been subjected to not only high fees, but also various conditions which were created conveniently by the ‘retailer’ of the licences.

“It was going good for quite some time until they started attaching conditions, like saying that you have to load ice in Suriname…by doing this, it killed the Co-op’s ice-making business…also when we land the catch in Suriname, they pay us what they want and do not even pay for everything,” said Jainarine.
Practically, fishermen, through this arrangement, have to sell some of their ‘catch’ in Suriname and then sell the remainder in Guyana.
In a case where there is a ‘trust-based’ arrangement with customers in Suriname, Guyanese boat owners would have to travel to that country to uplift their payment, a system which Jainarine said is “very risky.”

There have been many reports in the past about Guyanese fishermen being victims of piracy, losing not only their ‘catch’ and equipment, but, in some cases, their lives.
“We need to have a better arrangement…we have asked the Foreign Affairs people to work out an arrangement where Guyanese and Suriname Government can sit together and grant licences accordingly…this system existed about 15 years ago, and through it this Co-op had 50 licences,” said Jainarine.
Through the previous official arrangement, fishermen in Guyana would have to land one catch in Suriname and one in Guyana, a system which fishermen are willing to go back to once they are able to access the licence.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha has since confirmed that this issue was raised with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, who met recently with his counterpart from Suriname, Albert Ramdin.

“This issue is causing serious concerns for us, so I raised it with the Minister (Todd) and hopefully it could be resolved shorty,” said Minister Mustapha in an invited comment.
Guyana’s fishing industry has been a key contributor to the local economy, valuing approximately $8.3 billion of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing over 15,000 persons directly and indirectly.