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Fishermen can be frontline of monitoring effects of oil operations – Dr. Janette Bulkan
Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Janette Bulkan
Kaieteur News – University of British Colombia (UBC) Professor, Dr. Janette Bulkan, recently posited that Guyana’s fisherman can be the frontline in the monitoring of the country’s inshore waters, especially in reporting the effects of the oil operations on marine life.
Dr. Bulkan made these and other comments two Saturdays ago during a virtual Moray House Trust discussion titled Guyana’s Oil: Priorities for 2021. There, the UBC Professor reminded that regular seagoing fishermen would possess the knowledge to report changes in inshore waters.
According to Dr. Bulkan, who is an Anthropologist by training, these changes could include observing oily sheen on the water tops, unusual numbers of concentration of dead fish, the temperature change of the water and even the smell of the air.
“You do not need a UG degree to begin to be incorporated in what’s happening to the environment,” she reminded, while adding that by including the fishermen as monitors, it would give them an added sense of meaning or purpose. “Fishers will then see themselves as (protectors) of Guyana, not just as the poorest people who are invisible to everyone else,” she expressed.
Further, with the fishers’ local knowledge, Dr. Bulkan indicated that they can work with regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Government of Guyana and even non-government organizations (NGOs), so as to share data and resources to develop systems of monitoring.
The Professor stated too that the government should compensate fishermen for their monitoring, through proceeds derived from the oil production. To this, she recalled reading a study where Sea Conservation International in Suriname, in 2019, had conducted a small study where they worked with owner-operated fishing boats. Participating fishers, the Professor said, were asked to focus on Grey Snapper and Sea Trout.
She added that these fishermen were asked to complete a form, indicating where and when they spotted these fishes, and whether they had observed any ripe eggs. Captains who completed an assessment form received US$10 on the day of the fishing trip for participating in this project, she stated.
Such a project, Dr. Bulkan notes, should be monitored independently by a credible NGO or a regulatory agency.
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