A fisherman’s nightmare …60-year-old Dereck London’s fishing tale

Apr 17, 2022 News

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“I think what they should do is go out to sea with us to get a firsthand experience of what is going on. I can’t understand the Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) is saying that he has fishing background and fishing got seasons. It does not matter how much University education you got, you got to hear from we about what is going on.” – Dereck London

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – In the late 1900’s endless dark seas, fierce crashing waves and piracy attacks were the fears of 60-year-old Dereck London, a fisherman who resides at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. Years later, the fisherman’s worst nightmare has dawned, as he fears his only source of income may have vanished.

London has been into fishing since he was 15-year-old. After his mother passed away, London was nurtured by grandparents and went to sea to help support his guardians. His love for the job was beyond imagination and his earnings would be more than enough to go grocery shopping.
“Is 42 years of fishing experience I got; I started at Essequibo with some friends and I worked along with those people for quite some time. It was my first experience. We used to go overboard and set the seine to cover the whole area and when you see we pull up after about four to six hours, we used to get about 300 to 400 snapper but that would be after we count up everything after we 12 days. Nowadays when you go out, you coming back with 50 snapper, so things is not like long time man,” the once passionate fisherman explained.
With 42 years of experience in the business, London chuckled as he said he is more than happy that he made his children early and does not have to depend on the ‘fishing hustle’ to care for his family today. London is the father of nine children and has too many children to count!
In the earlier days, he recalled finding it difficult to leave his children at home to go out to sea, but said it was a sacrifice he had to make. “We used to be afraid but it was nice to get the experience. It got some real wild ones (fishermen) out there who try to make trouble. At one time they shoot one of my friends because he was fresh, he didn’t know how the thing does go and they shoot the man after he fight back. When they come, they does normally just want what we have,” the fisherman said.
But to ensure his own safety, he noted that he would normally inform his family how many days he plan to spend at sea, and also alert them as to who he will be with, so that his wife would know who to contact if he does not return within the stipulated days.

Sometimes, London said he would enjoy sailing out in the open, but a fisherman’s job is more than throwing a net overboard. He explained the process to Kaieteur News. According to him, “When we leave the wharf we would start the setup. We have a GPS so we would know where to go and not to get lost. We would set up something called the ‘danboy’. It’s like something with a light and a flag that is used to tell people a fishing boat is there with the seine and so on so that other fishermen won’t come there to set up. We would leave it for like four to six hours and then check to see if we get anything. Sometime the seine would tangle up and you go to spend a lot of time to loose it out. Some time you get fish so you have to get it out fast to put in the ice box because we don’t want any to spoil. The whole process could take whole day sometimes. If we find that we waiting and we don’t get anything at that spot, we would move up to another location.”
Dark days
The seas have become a dark and more feared place, and so have the days for the fishing industry, according to the experienced fisherman. “Because when we go out now, we don’t get the catch like we used to get before. Sometimes when you work is like you working for 70/30. The man who boat you using got to get half the profit, whatever leff back we got to split between the crew after the 12 or 13 days. Long time we used to catch about 300 or 400 snapper… but now, them boys saying three boats going out and they only coming back with about 50 after all them days. The boat cost is like $1 million to go out to sea alone. So after we done take out we expense we barely getting a li’l thing to go in we belly,” he shared.
With fears stirring of the industry’s collapse, London said young fishermen are now looking to turn to other sectors for jobs. He said that the young men are turning to construction work, while others are now becoming guards to secure an income for their families.
London reasoned that it is unfortunate that fishermen in Guyana continue to face such hardships, and the government seems not to have a clue about the reality of what is happening to the sector.
According to him, “I think what they should do is go out to sea with us to get a firsthand experience of what is going on. I can’t understand the Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) is saying that he has fishing background and fishing got seasons. It does not matter how much University education you got, you got to hear from we about what is going on.”
In addition to experiencing lower catches, London said that the quality of fish has also reduced. He told Kaieteur News that one snapper used to weigh about 30 pounds back in the earlier days, but now a snapper weighs around 10 pounds.
The fisherman is certain that since the oil and gas operations started, the seafood business started its decline. Although London did not have the luxury of completing his high school education, the fisherman said he has good knowledge of what the oil and gas sector can do to a country’s fishing industry.
“You see when they go down to we sea floor with them noisy equipment, what you think would happen? It would chase the fish away…When they pull up the oil deh, you believe is oil alone coming up? No man, is gas with the oil, plus some kind of water that causes the fish to dead. When them throw back the water into the ocean, what you believe happens to de fish? Plus, when them throw back the water deh, it got oil inside and the thing is wah does kill out the fish them,” London believes.
Amidst all the fears that fishermen are plagued with, he said they are still hopeful that the government would intervene in the situation.
In a brief comment, London’s common law wife, Ms. Kamltwie Lera, who has been with the fisherman for 19 years now, said she is saddened to see her husband’s current state. She explained that he recently returned home from the sea and has fallen ill. Doctors have diagnosed him with pneumonia. He is currently undergoing treatment and will be unable to work for the next six weeks. In the meantime, she said she has been doing domestic work to keep food on the table.
With some financial help from their children, the couple is looking to build their own home for the very first time.

 

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