Low fish catch is possibly Guyana’s first oil casualty

Apr 12, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – A set of Guyanese are hurting, feeling the squeeze on each occasion they venture far from land. These would be our fisherfolk, who are struggling with their financial pains, looking at bleaker and bleaker prospects, and are being forced to engage in the previously unthinkable. That is, knowingly participating in what would be labelled as illegal activity, by committing what other countries on our borders consider to be crimes. It is this stark reality of some of our honest, hardworking countrymen being forced by circumstances to play hide and seek with criminal conduct, hoping that they don’t get caught, and all to make a living.
The caption of one recent story carried by this publication should need no elaboration: “Low catches forcing fishermen into illegal zones – government urged to speed up study on impact” (KN April 8). There can be no argument about the facts and circumstances, since they speak for themselves, house persuasive truths. It is what our fishermen and their families have lived with, in the past few years, and are now forced to endure, with no relief in sight. That is, other than resorting to taking a chance and dabbling with fishing in illegal zones.
Our fishermen are catching less, which is the first harsh reality faced. The second is that they have to spend more to haul in less fish. The spending is driven by rising fuel prices, which means that a 15-day trip now costs around $800,000, instead of the old $600,000 of a few short years prior. They spend more in money, sometimes more in time on the high seas in the hope of a bigger, more meaningful catch, only to end up with the disappointing opposite. Fishermen and those who depend on them are now despairing at what they have to deal with, which is less quantities of fish, and a lesser quality of the catch that they bring to the wharf.
It is not only their immediate families impacted, for there are others who depend upon them, in what is now the known subculture around the wharves. For the plight and pain of fishermen going out to sea, and coming back light-handed is also that of the many Guyanese, who are working there (wharves), or going there to buy for personal or commercial purposes. The people who unload the boats, transport fish in and around the wharf, and clean and fillet purchases all have less work to occupy their time and hands. This means less, or nothing at all, in their pockets more frequently. The vendors, who dot our landscape, especially around the capital city, be it in shops or on the street side, have less to sell, are compelled to charge more, since they are paying more.
The reasons for the pain and anguish being felt by our fishermen are still unclear. Most prefer not to rush to any premature conclusions as to what is responsible for their troubles, so they wait. But they are fast running out of patience, which is why they are urging and pressing the Guyana Government to hear their cry, and feel for them, by acting upon their concerns with speed and efficiency. Some honesty and what is trustworthy in the study that they have heard about would be most helpful to the fishermen, who would want to know what is really behind their sudden deteriorating situation.
One line of thinking tendered by some fishermen is that since the bustle of oil work started in the vicinity of the fishing areas traditionally plied by them, their problems were noticed. They point to the noise, the movements of oil-related vessels, the accumulated underwater activities, and more than a few believe that those are the cause of their calamity. Indeed, it is a calamity that has compelled these Guyanese to take their lives in their hands, and roll the dice. They venture into fish-rich Brazilian waters, sometimes even enticing Venezuelan spaces, at great danger to themselves. They are violating the laws of neighbours, and with all the punishments that could come if caught.
Therefore, the study said to be in motion must be speeded up. It would help if government officials gave them some attention. They are hurting badly.

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