Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy has ratified the closed season for Guyana’s seabob (shrimp) fishing in keeping with a previously established protocol between the ministry and the seabob industry.
The closed season is an annual global practice, a press release from the ministry said. It allows for various fish stocks to replenish, thereby maintaining sustainability. Under current international standards, countries require a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification for each fish stock to have sale approval in the global market place, the release stated.
The possession of the MSC implies that harvesting and management of that particular fish stock has been conducted in a sustainable manner. Guyana was successfully provided with the “fully utilized but not overfished” approval for seabob during its last approval in June 2013 but measures are being put in place for the seabob to acquire the MSC. According to the ministry, the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors (GATOSP) supports the closed season.
The seabob industry has proposed a draft Harvest Control Rule (HCR), according to the Agriculture Ministry, with an overall days at sea limit and 87 licences with an allocated 225 days at sea. This proposal, the ministry said, is considered a “best practice” in fisheries management and was done in consultation with GATOSP and the Fisheries Department. It also included consideration of fishermen’s earnings, political acceptability and the required level of precaution. It is hoped that the proposed HCR would undergo continuous assessments, the release stated. The last one was conducted in June 2014 by the Continental Shelf Fisheries Working Group (CSWG) comprising representatives from Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago and has duly endorsed the rule to be consistent with attaining maximum sustainable yield. The current moratorium will commence at midnight on September 7, the seabob fishing vessels will remain in port until midnight October 26, 2014.
