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Fish catch
“When they started that oil exploration from 2015 to 2020, we had seen a slight decline, we are all apprehensive about this. We never thought it would have been to the extent where it is today, where from a production of 20M pounds to 5M pounds annually.”
Editorial – Prettipaul Singh, General Manager of Prettipaul Singh Investments (PSI), was the one speaking, more like groaning with the pain from where he finds himself today. He is caught in the bind of a hard place, and looks to the government to run to the rescue. The fishing sector is hurting badly, and the correlation to ExxonMobil’s offshore oil operations is pointed to as being very evident.
Fishing is like many other sectors. It has its seasons of high rewards, when the catch is abundant, and in between, there are the occasional dry patches. They are usually not prolonged. So, what is causing the extended interval of slight decline followed by a steep falloff in fish catch, a fallout that is consistently heading downward? What is different today, in the last few years, and is unlike any other factor known in Guyana? The timing could not be more revealing, and it is in the numbers, that grinding, so grim they are.
From the beginning of this millennium, and for about a decade, fish catch was at record-breaking levels, basking in the encouragement of what GM Singh called “extensive exports.” The numbers of his company, PSI, tell the story in irrefutable terms. In that first decade, PSI exports of the much-in-demand seabob (shrimp) soared: from 2 containers to 10, then to an amazing 20 per week. It was a multiple of 10 times in 10 years, or 1000 percent. Then the decline started, confirming that the good times rarely last.
From 2015 to 2020 was the first signal, with what Mr. Singh, one of the largest presences in Guyana’s fishing sector, called a “slight decline”, seen, but he recognized the warning bells and where the linkage was. When oil exploration took off, it took down the fishing sector to where it is today. It is almost the reverse of this millennium’s first decade. Currently, PSI has gone from its peak of 20M pounds annually to the bottom of 5M, which, when processed, reduced the exportable catch to 2.5M pounds. By any standards, it is a massive falloff, enough to put most companies out of business.
The only new element in the offshore environment is oil production, and the breakneck speeds at which that has roared upward. A more rapid rate of daily production means that there are more chemicals and toxic substances that must be disposed of, which, along with high-temperature waste (produce) water, is not a healthy environment in which fish could exist and flourish. What companies like PSI have heard sounds like the death knell of Guyana’s once-thriving fishing sector. Like the much smaller local operators in Guyana’s fishing lanes, Mr. Singh noted that almost double the time is spent at sea, with results that are dragging down his company. And like the smaller fishers, he is looking to the government for help.
PSI had made a major investment of US$70M to enhance its facilities. Expansion built on the projection of an extended run of seabob and company profits. Oil traffic, oil activity, and oil wastes pumped overboard are all believed to have done damage to the fragile fishing environment. With no watchful eyes or restraining hand on ExxonMobil’s race to greater and greater profitability, Guyanese fisherfolk and all those who depend on them are paying a heavy price. This is not a development from yesterday, and we at this paper have been raising the alarm based on the cries of those feeling the pain, local fisherfolk, their families, workers, and communities. The least that the government could have done was to conduct a credible study and share its findings with citizens. When the government ducks from doing so, and plays games with a limited study led by the UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture), then the only conclusion that there could be is that the linkage between oil production and precipitous falloff in fish catch has its merits.
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