THE fishing industry on the Essequibo Coast is still being seriously affected by floating seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean.According to reports, the seaweed, which is suspected to have come from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, is creating problems for fishermen, and has affected their livelihood over the past two months.Fishermen from Paradise Village said the floating seaweed gets entangled in their seine and causes it to roll up while it is drifting in the Atlantic Ocean. The fishermen said they could not have gone to sea for several days because of the seaweed problem.

Fisherman Vinesh Ramanand, who is the owner of two fishing boats, said that despite the problems with the seaweed he is making another try to go out on the high seas to get fish so he can get an income.

The determined fisherman and his crew left for sea early yesterday morning. However, they had to return to shore several times over the past weeks to clear the seine from the floating seaweed.

Reports said that aborted trips at sea have caused him more than $200,000 in losses but according to Ramanand the situation is expected to change.

Several boats with seine are just waiting at the foreshore at Paradise to go to sea as soon as floating seaweeds disappear.

This seaweed problem has significantly affected the supply of fish as some boats that go to sea are not getting the size of catch because of the floating seaweed problem.

However according to reports the line and hook operation is not affected by the problem and so those boats are bringing in a good catch.

Reports also said that the shrimp industry is not seriously affected. However fishermen are calling on the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture to investigate the problem and to give them some measure of relief.

Fishing on the Essequibo Coast is a major activity, and creates employment for a large number of young men and women.

Drift seine operators are also complaining that anchored seines in the ocean have been affecting and destroying their seines while they are drifting. Therefore they are calling on the authorities to regulate the operations of fishermen with anchored seines so their drift seines would not be destroyed.

By Rajendra Prabhulall