(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Gerrit Breinburg, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV) says that tampering with fishery licenses has not let up. He notes two significant evils: licensees who take their catch to Guyana and others who put up their license for sale since they are not active in the fishery industry. LVV has for some time now been busy putting things right, issuing registration rounds and increasing inspections. Since 1 November, current and prospective license holders must re-register. ‘We’re trying to curb the situation for we no longer want people to walk around with a bag full of licenses for sale. We now check if licensees actually have a boat and the necessary gear for fishery. There are situations where people use two boats with the same registration number and name for one license,’ Breinburg says. One of the causes of the widespread corruption is that Suriname still has abundant fishing grounds compared to neighbouring countries and the region. Suriname’s licensing system avoids overfishing. Guyana faces this problem, reason why its fishermen legally and illegally move to Suriname. There have even been cases of illegal fishermen from Venezuela and Trinidad. As the Surinamese fishery industry is dominated by Guyanese, they take their catch to Guyana where they get much more due to the constant scarcity over there. Suriname does not earn a cent from its rightful share in this natural resource.
