Guyana has been recertified to export shrimp to the US with effect from May 1 without any visit by an inspection team, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday in a press release.
This is the first time in recent years that Guyana has been recertified without inspection teams visiting facilities here, and follows increased monitoring efforts by the Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Guyana Association of Private Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors.
The release said further that shrimping is of critical importance to Guyana, constituting 50% of the country’s fishery export earnings or approximately US$25M.
The most common market for seabob is the US to which 89.6% of exports were directed in 2007.
However, the release said, in order to access this market Guyana must comply with the relevant US law which states that only shrimp harvested in ways that are not harmful to certain endangered species of marine turtle can be imported.
Consequently, Guyana put regulations in place which makes it mandatory for all shrimp trawlers to have Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) installed on their nets. And due to Guyana’s compliance with these laws, the country has been able to export shrimp to the US uninterruptedly for the last eight years.
Meantime, weekly inspections are carried out by the joint Government-Private Sector team, in addition to the routine activities by the Fisheries Department’s TED inspectors on the various wharves where shrimp trawlers land their catch.
According to reports, the industry as a whole has been using the TEDs in the approved manner.
But despite the recertification, weekly inspections will continue to be carried out in the interest of ensuring Guyana’s continued export of shrimp to the US market, the release added.
