GATOSP seeks Govt. assistance with markets

Apr 01, 2023 News

…says catches at almost 100% for January to March

Kaieteur News – Members of the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors (GATOSP) are calling on the Government to assist them in marketing their catch.

During a meeting held with Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, Head of GATOSP Ruben Charles said that although the fishing sector has seen a positive turnaround since the year started, many companies are experiencing issues with marketing.

Charles explained that issues related to supply during the pandemic has resulted in an industry setback. He said that many of the local suppliers cannot sell their products at sustainable prices in existing markets and are now looking to the government to assist with exploring new markets.

In response, Minister Mustapha said that the fishing sector was not the lone industry affected by the pandemic while noting that his government is working to secure new markets.

“We’ve seen, over the last three years due to the pandemic, demand declined and many markets were lost. Although the pandemic is not over, we are seeing increases in production. With these increases; and this is not only in the fisheries sector because we’ve seen it in other sectors; a lot of markets in several industries are being affected and we have to try and get back those markets and at competitive prices,” the minister said.

Members of the GATOSP who attended the meeting (Ministry of Agriculture photo)

Minister Mustapha has committed to working with the Association through the ministry’s Fisheries Department to restore markets that were either lost or scaled down while also working to secure new markets for Guyana’s seafood. For this to be effective, the minister said that the process would have to be done in an organized way.

He also said that efforts are ongoing with officials from the United States of America’s Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to have the ban on catfish exports to the US lifted.

The Ministry, through the Fisheries Department, has updated and gazetted the Fishery Product Regulations of 2003 along with several other required protocols. Minister Mustapha said that the manual was gazetted and is now law.

Meanwhile, the GATOSP head Ruben Charles have disclosed that trawler operators recorded almost 100% in their catch following almost three years of low catches.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha (Ministry of Agriculture photo)

Ravi Rafiwan, a member of the GATOSP said that he returned to sea three months ago and has seen a significant increase in his catch.

“From January, I started to work my boats and I saw an increase from the past three years. It is not yet at the level where it used to be before the three years but it is close. I’m getting just about ¾ of what I used to get before the catch drop and these levels have sustained for the past three months,” Mr. Rafiwan explained.

Minister Mustapha, in an invited comment, said that the reports from the GATOSP did not come as a surprise given the fact that in 2021, Guyana suffered one of the most devastating floods which saw a tremendous amount of fresh water in the fishing grounds which in turn affected the level of catches.

“We know for a fact that there was a period when fisherfolk were seeing low catches. This was a concern for the government and we consulted with the FAO to do a study to help determine the reason. The study sighted climate change as one of the main reasons fisherfolk were receiving low catches. Despite allegations that offshore explorations were affecting the industry; we are hearing it ‘from the horse’s mouth’ that catches are almost where they were. There was a clear agenda for spreading misinformation about the fishing industry because we are seeing a massive increase even though those other industries are still operating offshore,” the minister noted.

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Agriculture Minister, Government, Head of GATOSP, Ruben Charles, Zulfikar Mustapha

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