Better integration of science into policy-making needed to protect Guyana’s marine environment

Mar 22, 2022 News

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– as marine manager portal becomes available to Guyana

Kaieteur News – Guyana has been urged to ensure the employment of scientific research in policy making to ensure a meaningful balance between the environment and oil production development here. With insufficient research, a report from the Global Fishing Watch has stated, that it would be difficult to project the impacts of human activity in Guyana’s marine space.
The website (https://globalfishingwatch.org/) which is a partnership between non-profit organisations Oceana and SkyTruth, recently featured Hanan Lachmansingh, a volunteer for the Guyana Marine Conservation Society who pointed out that, “Transparent policy, clear and actionable data and significant analysis are needed to ensure a balance can be reached between oil wealth and a fragile ocean.”
Lachmansingh said in her February report that while Guyana is poised to undergo significant economic growth, the effects of this growth go beyond the immediate marine environment surrounding offshore drilling.
Despite these concerns, she said that there has been little research and investment in Guyana’s marine environment, due to a lack of awareness and resources.
The report highlighted that there is now an urgent need for better integration of science into policy-making. “Lacking baseline research, it is difficult to project the impacts of anthropogenic activity in Guyana’s marine space.” She noted that by providing dynamic, interactive marine data in near real-time, the Global Fishing Watch Marine Manager, which provides the world’s first global view of commercial fishing activities, supports the design, management and monitoring of marine protected areas.
Lachmansingh noted that, in Guyanese waters, the marine manager portal has highlighted a steep increase of marine vessel traffic related to Guyana’s growing oil and gas sector. As documented in a report on this issue, 36 percent of all vessels observed in Guyanese waters were potentially connected to the oil extracting sector, with an increase of 38 percent in numbers of oil-related vessels observed between 2015 and 2020.
Additionally, an increase of 227 percent in oil-related activity was observed between 2018 and 2020.
Further research using the marine manager portal is now under way to assess the potential impacts this increase in ships and activity might have for Guyana’s marine life. In the meantime, “A report was presented to the Minister of Agriculture in 2021 to inform and demonstrate how to use the marine manager portal to monitor Guyana’s exclusive economic zone.”
Global Fishing Watch said that it has its sights set on helping to ensure that marine life is not left behind in the new rush to exploit oil and gas. “The non-profit organisation has been a key partner in collecting baseline environmental and human activity data for Guyana to support better management and protection of its water by working with local agencies and NGOs to facilitate marine science research.”
The monitoring body said that Guyana’s marine environment is home to sperm whales, pygmy killer whales, dolphins, marine turtles, sharks and more than 900 species of fish, some of which support the local artisanal and industrial fisheries sector. “For a long time, knowledge of these species was based on strandings, their presence in neighbouring countries and accounts from fishermen, and the first extensive expedition and survey of Guyana’s marine area which was only conducted in late 2021. This is a great start to understanding what marine species are present and therefore at risk as Guyana begins to extract its oil riches.”
Beyond obvious benefits from Guyana’s coastal and marine environments, the report said that local, Indigenous and other fishers depend on fisheries in the rivers and ocean for food and livelihood—the artisanal, industrial and semi-industrial fisheries sector of Guyana contributes approximately $8.3 billion GYD to the gross domestic product and employs over 15,000 people.
Currently, local fishermen are concerned over what they say are low catches which they are attributing to ExxonMobil’s oil operations offshore. However, proper research to determine same is yet to be made available.
The non-profit organisation said that there is also a leading concern that, although there is a national oil spill contingency plan, the capacity building to ensure its execution requires specialised training and equipment that is not readily available in Guyana. “Moving forward, Guyana needs to prioritise training the members of its oil spill response committee and other relevant institutions to ensure there is a mechanism that will protect Guyana’s land and sea resources, should the need arise. Without research to quell fears—and with a lack of trust in the government—many people seem worried that the promised riches of the oil industry may skip them and bring only detriment.”

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