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Seabob industry under threat…No consensus to change harvesting season

Sep 29, 2008 News


…expert advice being sought

There has been no consensus on the recommendation to change the seabob harvesting closing season from September each year to May.
When contacted yesterday, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud told this newspaper that there was a general understanding by members of the Sea Food Trawlers and Processors Association that there is a need to reduce the number of vessels harvesting seabob in Guyana.
He, however, noted that no agreement was reached on the recommendation to change the closing season.
Local stakeholders had recommended that Guyana should reduce the fleet of vessels that is exploiting seabob, while at the same time, change the closing season for harvesting from September to May.
This is based on an assessment that Guyana’s seabob is being exploited and, as such, techniques to ensure sustainable management of the commodity must be put in place.
At present, Persaud said, the Fisheries Advisory Committee is deliberating on a formula to reduce the number of vessels, and operators are willing to cooperate.
He said that discussions are continuing on the need to change the closing month.
According to the minister, the private operators will be providing independent data on the industry’s harvesting rate, since they are disputing the data collected by the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
While technical advice is being sought, Persaud said yesterday, the ministry will be approaching the Caribbean Regional Fishers Network for additional expert advice on the closing season aspect of the recommendation.
Early next year, action will be taken to reduce the amount of vessels that are engaged in seabob harvesting, Persaud said.
He added that there is concern that the seabob industry may experience the same fate as the prawns industry, where there was over-harvesting.
On September 18 last, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the association, hosted a workshop, where stakeholders met to determine the way forward with the industry.
Chairman of the Sea Food Trawlers and Processors Association, Bruce Vieira, told Kaieteur News that, while the association will abide with some reduction as well as measures to ensure that seabob remain sustainable, the recommendations by the experts are ‘far too drastic.’
Bruce noted that the association does not believe that the situation with the harvesting is as “bad as they are making it out to be.”
One of the difficulties that the Ministry of Agriculture has in making a decision on the issue is the fact that there is not enough accurate data to make a final verdict.
(Tusika Martin)

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