Govt. re-opens seabob fishing season

Oct 14, 2015 News

The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, recently approved the Closed Season for the Guyana‘s Seabob (shrimp) Fishery, following a written request by Bruce Vieira, President of the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors(GATOSP).

After a seven week mandatory closure, the seabob fishing season has been reopened, Government announced yesterday.

The closure was ratified by Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, in keeping with protocols previously established between the GATOSP and the Ministry.
The fishery reopened on October 5 having been closed for seven weeks.
During this period, the Ministry explained yesterday, all seabob trawlers were docked with the exception of a few, which were used for research purposes.
Closed seasons are specified time periods where no legal fishing is permitted for a particular fishery, and has been going on for several years in Guyana. Its implementation is closely monitored by the Fisheries Department on an annual basis.
“Such an intervention is not only limited to Guyana, but has fast become a global practice aimed at allowing various fisheries to multiply or replenish, thus ensuring growth and sustainability. During this period, companies conducted fleet maintenance, revision training for fishermen and management staff ventured off on annual vacation leave.”
The seabob fishery in Guyana has been well known over the years for generating foreign exchange earnings and revenue through exports regionally, and to markets in North America and Europe.
The major industrial stakeholders include Pritipaul Singh Investment, Noble House Seafoods, BEV Processors, Guyana Quality Seafoods and the Fisheries Department which falls under the Ministry of Agriculture.
The seabob stock was last assessed in June 2013, where it was deemed fully exploited but not over fished.
“As a result of this, a proposed Harvest Control Rule (considered as `best practices` in fisheries management) was drafted following deliberations with the consultant, GATOSP and Fisheries Department.”
According to the Ministry, the current rule allows for 87 licences each with an allocated 225 days at sea.
This implementation of the rule commenced in 2014 and is monitored and enforced by the key stakeholders, in particular the Fisheries Department through the Seabob Working Group (SWG). “Consistent monitoring of vessel catch (Catch Per Unit Effort) and vessel movements while fishing (via Vessel Monitoring System) are currently being managed by officers within the Fisheries Department. Individual companies also have the ability to monitor their respective fleets.”
Additionally, final measures are currently being put in place for the seabob fishery to enter into assessment for achievement of Marine Stewardship Council Certification (MSC) in the not-too-distant future.
MSC certification, the Ministry noted, basically signifies that harvesting and management of fisheries resources are being done in a sustainable manner, which in turn allows access into global markets for sale of produce.
Some of the measures for the certification includes installation of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and By-Catch Reduction Devices (BRD‘s) on trawler vessels and the drafting of fisheries regulations.
Also drafted, is the Seabob Management Plan and an international press release done on the Fisheries Improvement Plan (Guyana Seabob) which has been posted up on the Fishery Improvement Projects website.
There is also a seabob fishery observer programme being conducted through funding from the WWF (Guianas) and supported by the Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture and the GATOSP. This programme will initially run for one year.
The fishing industry has been taking a beating in recent years.
According to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, in his budget presentation in August, despite improved management and monitoring techniques in the industry, overfishing and exploitation of fishing resources, over-fishing and exploitation of fishing resources, and piracy have resulted in the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product declining by 26.7 percent.

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