Jagdeo should borrow a fishing boat and head out to sea

Dec 30, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is supposed to hold responsibilities for the mining and environment sectors. But it appears that he is now an expert in the fishing industry.
Claiming to emanate from a fishing village, he points out that no scientific evidence has been produced to show that the decline in fish-catch is due to the operations of the oil companies.
While it is true that no study has been done to confirm that the reduction in fishing output and catches is due to the oil operations, his government stands in dereliction of its responsibility to ascertain the cause or causes of the decline in output.
Fish production is said to have declined by 7.1 percent in 2020 and shrimp production by almost 15 percent. The export earnings from fish were also reduced by US$25M, far more than was earned from the sugar industry. We are told that this year production is down by more than 20 percent. This decline cannot be attributed to the usual variations or seasonal fluctuations in catches, as Jagdeo seeks to imply.
The fishers, however, are not all buying that. Some of them are adamant that the oil industry is destroying the country’s fishing industry.
Fisher folks are complaining about low catches. Some say that they facing bankruptcy.
A woman called in to a recent edition of The Glenn Lall Show. She bemoaned her declining fortunes as the owner of three fishing boats.
She lamented the present plight of the industry, claiming that she has already been forced to park two of her three vessels. The one working vessel is bankrupting her because the catch cannot compensate for the expenses of sending the vessel out to sea. She is losing money every time the vessel goes fishing.
Her story is being reproduced throughout the fishing industry in many parts of the country. In some cases, fishers have complained that they are catching less than 30 percent of their usual intake. One local representative of the fishing industry was quoted as saying that the fishing industry is collapsing.
Jagdeo’s reference to variations in catch is at odds with his government’s acceptance that the fishing industry is in a crisis. The Minister of Agriculture is reported to have admitted that there has been a noticeable decline over the years in fishing catches, and that the government was fully supportive of having analyses done to ascertain the cause.
Why then has Jagdeo not pressed or insisted on this analysis being done? Surely, he can then use this analysis as the scientific basis for a possible explanation for the decline in the fisheries output.
But why does Jagdeo even need scientific evidence? Does he not know about the effects of seismic surveys?
In such surveys, sound blasts are emitted from a vessel into the seabed. The sound waves are then bounced back and refracted to the vessel and used to determine whether petroleum reserves exist. The sound waves are so powerful that marine fish cannot withstand the constant and loud sounds emitted.
Fish are also threatened during drilling and actual oil production. Jagdeo does not need to look any further than the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted for the Liza Phase 1 Development Project to appreciate the threats posed to marine fish by oil drilling and oil production.
The Liza 1 EIA establishes the impacts on marine life and their habitat due to the “presence of Project infrastructure; entrapment in water intakes; auditory [sound] impacts from vessel traffic and installation activities; and the attractive potential of artificial lights on the FPSO, drill ships and other major installation vessels.”
Specifically, the EIA found that drilling operations could result in gill fouling and reduced visibility. The report also highlighted that permitted waste discharge could have toxic effects on marine life.
During the production stage there is the potential of loss of fish eggs and larvae, which, as we know, reduces future fish stocks. The EIA concluded that these impacts would be more significant during drilling and installation when most of the habitat-disturbing activities and vessel traffic occurs.
Jagdeo should therefore not even contemplate discounting the effects of oil operations on the country’s fishing sector. The losses to the fishing industry should have been predicted and compensation sought as part of the renegotiation of the oil contract. Two percent royalty simply cannot compensate for the destruction of the fishing industry on which thousands of Guyanese depend for their livelihoods.
And, just in case he still has doubts about the impact of oil operations, he can defer fishing in the Boerarsie and take one of his village’s fishing boats and head out to sea, to see whether he can catch a few fish. Who knows what his luck may bring!
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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