Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE!

Nov 09, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

 

Since when is the issue of the government granting fishing licences a human rights concern? Or is it a case that the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has become the mouthpiece of powerful economic interests within the local fishing industry who feel threatened that their comforts are going to be eroded now that the Chinese are making their belated foray into our fishing grounds.
It is surprising that the Guyana Human Rights Association which has been very silent in all the debates about the Anti- Money laundering and the Countering of Terrorism Act, should suddenly raise its concerns about the fact that the government is issuing licences to Chinese firms to engage in deep sea fishing. Why the sudden concern by the GHRA and how is this issue a human rights one?
The Guyana Human Rights Association will undermine whatever little credibility it still has by its objections to this issue. It will also run the risk of being accused of being selective since for decades in Guyana industrial fishing has been under the control of foreign firms in Guyana.
In all that time, the GHRA never saw a problem but only now that Chinese firms are entering our markets, something that threatens the vested interests in the sector, has the GHRA chosen to raise its voice.
For years industrial fishing in Guyana was dominated by American and British companies which deployed large fleets of trawlers to catch the thriving stocks that Guyana held. No assessment has been done as to how the licences which were granted to American and Japanese firms, have helped the local economy. Indeed, there is an opinion that these firms helped to deplete our fishing grounds and shipped out their catch rather than help develop processing plants that would have allowed for the employment of thousands of Guyanese, especially women.
If the GHRA was raising a concern that the jobs in the fish processing sector, jobs which are mainly done by women, are threatened by the entrance of the Chinese into the market, those concerns might be understood as a gender and by extension a human rights issue. But the GHRA has raised no concerns about loss of jobs.
So what is it that is bothering the GHRA? Is it the fact that certain big companies in the local fishing industry, companies that are controlled by both local and foreign elites, feel that the Chinese will take away critical markets from the companies presently operating? In other words, has the GHRA become the mouthpiece for big business in the fishing sector?
The real concern about fishing licences should not be about who is granted the licences. It should be about what benefits accrue to Guyana as a consequence of these licences. What level of value added is being promoted through the grant of these licences. Or are we simply allowing persons from all over the world and also from within Guyana to pillage our fishing grounds and then to export the catch without any significant benefits to the Guyanese economy?
The grant of industrial fishing licences should be tied to the construction of fishing plants that process the fish locally before being exported. Guyana should refuse to grant any industrial licence to any foreign or local national unless the fish is going to be processed here and unless there is an established fish processing plant and there is verifiable evidence that fish processing actually takes place.
We cannot continue to allow local and foreign fishers to deplete our already depleted fishing grounds unless they are accompanying value-added activities. This has to be the bottom line.
The issue should not be about whether it is Chinese, Japanese, American or European firms that are engaged in the fishing industry in Guyana. The issue has to be nature of that involvement. No industrial fishing licences should be issued unless there is an agreement between those who will catch the fish and some local firm that will process it.

 

 

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rutherford gets big payday from Gujarat Titans at IPL 2025 Mega Auction; Shepherd, Powell snapped up by RCB and KKR, respectively

Rutherford gets big payday from Gujarat Titans at IPL 2025 Mega...

Nov 26, 2024

  SportsMax – Guyanese hard-hitting left hander Sherfane Rutherford will get the opportunity to shine on T20 franchise cricket’s biggest stage once again after being picked up by the...
Read More
Roach and Seales star as West Indies close in on Antigua Test victory

Roach and Seales star as West Indies close in on...

Nov 26, 2024

Delroy Tyrrell continues to excel at Oneonta State University

Delroy Tyrrell continues to excel at Oneonta...

Nov 26, 2024

Ramdass Royals Crowned Champions of the Inaugural Windies Masters Cricket Extravaganza

Ramdass Royals Crowned Champions of the Inaugural...

Nov 26, 2024

KFC Guyana distance self from delayed payment of GFF Elite League prizes

KFC Guyana distance self from delayed payment of...

Nov 26, 2024

Ravens and Royals ready for epic Elite 16 final showdown

Ravens and Royals ready for epic Elite 16 final...

Nov 26, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]