Govt. updates regulations with new protocols for fish imports

May 21, 2022 News

As fishing industry dwindles…

Kaieteur News – Guyana has been producing oil since December 2019 and during that course of time there has been a significant decline in the domestic fishing industry purportedly as a result of the drilling production operations by the International Oil Companies currently operating offshore.

Govt. updates regulations for dwindling fishing industry

Against this backdrop, government on Wednesday last signed off on a raft of new regulations to be enforced under the Fisheries Act that cater for, in addition to protocols for the handling and processing of local catch, the importation of fish and fish products.
The regulations signed on Wednesday last by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha has since been gazetted.
Among the provisions in the new regulations is the designation of the Veterinary Public Health Unit as the ‘competent authority’ to enforce the regulations.
The regulations signed off by Minister Mustapha also speaks to the approval of vessels and processing facilities, conditions to be met before fish can be placed on the local market and importation among other aspects.
As it relates to the importation of fish, the regulations speak specifically to the conditions to be met by an importer, notifications, offshore inspections as well as foreign government inspections.
The updated regulations does under Part VII provide for the exportation of Guyana’s catch and the general conditions and criteria to be met.
Additionally the new regulation aims to enforce in a more efficient manner, the general and more specifically the hygienic conditions to be met by not only processing plants and facilities but the vessels.
Moreover the new regulations also provide a plethora of best plant practices to be met with regards quality assurance systems and production conditions.
The move to update Guyana’s fisheries regulations under the substantive law comes at a time when the fishing industry has been experiencing a rapid decline in recent years in addition to a regional push—being spearheaded by Guyana—to reduce the regional food import bill.
Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, in presenting the Budget for this year had noted that said, despite the challenges currently being faced by the subsector, fishing was estimated to have grown by 11 percent, having shown signs of recovery in the latter half of 2021 which resulted in some 15.7 percent growth in fish production.
He said too that notable increases were observed in production across all fish products, with the most significant growth observed for industrial finfish, which grew by 235.4 percent. “Undermining the subsector’s overall performance was a 13.5 percent decline in the production of shrimp, as a result of declines in catches of white belly and industrial seabob shrimp. These declines outweighed increased catches of artisanal seabob shrimp and prawns.”
Fisher folk on the other hand continue to insist that there has been a substantial decline in their catch despite the pronouncements made by Dr. Singh.
Chairman of the Guyana National Fisherfolk Organisation and the Upper Corentyne Fisherman Co-op Society, Parmeshwar Jainarine had scrutinized the figures released by the Ministry of Finance, as they relate to the production/catch percentage within the local fishing industry and had contended that it is far from what it really is and has noted that the fishing industry is collapsing and is being neglected by the Government.
This past week Kaieteur News had reported that Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—ExxonMobil Guyana—has in its project summary conceded that the project will, in addition to emitting additional Green House Gases into the atmosphere but can possible decimate the fishing industry.
A key report from an American multinational had warned that there will be significant impact on the nation’s marine resources, due to the cumulative impact of those oil related activities. This disclosure was made in the project documents for the Yellowtail development in the Stabroek Block, operated by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, EEPGL.
The report, which formed the premise for consultations on the Yellowtail development, noted that there are several exploration and development activities planned or are already in operation by EEPGL that will compound the situation.

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