Officials from the Guyana National Fisherfolk Organization (GNFO) on Friday hosted their second national election.
A release from the Ministry of Agriculture said that representatives from the Upper Corentyne Fisherman Co-op Society, Rosignol Fishermen’s Co-op, Albion Landing Site, Tree Door Fishermen Co-op, D’Edward Fishermen Co-op, Parika Fisherman Co-op, Lima’s Fishers’ Association, and the Greater Georgetown Fisherman’s Co-op attended the exercise which was held last Friday in the main boardroom at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that government was encouraging fisherfolk to be more cognizant of their responsibility to Guyana’s development.
“This election of the Guyana National Fisherfolk’s Organization is happening at an opportune time when the Ministry of Agriculture and the government are encouraging our fisherfolk to become more aware of their role and responsibility, as well as your participatory approach in the fisheries management process. When we look at the contribution of this sector to our country’s GDP it is tremendous. Our manifesto speaks to enhance support to fisherfolks and co-op societies,” Mustapha said
The Minister also said that his Ministry is working to address several issues faced by fisherfolk as it relates to piracy and the granting of licences to Guyanese fishermen to fish in Suriname waters.
“This year we’ve allocated large sums of money to develop the fishing industry. We’ve also acquired a fisheries monitoring vessel so that we can execute patrolling operations to protect our exclusive economic zone. We also recognize that our fisherfolks are severely affected by piracy. Only today I received reports of a recent attack on one of our fishing vessels by armed Venezuelans. We are now taking the necessary steps to procure equipment and recruit capable personnel to commence patrolling our Coast. Government has also been working with our counterparts overseas to regularize the fishing industry. For example, with fisherfolk on the Corentyne, they have to depend on middle-men from Suriname who are charging exorbitant fees to get licences. Following a State visit last November, myself and the Minister of Agriculture in Suriname have been discussing ways to have our fishermen licenced to fish in the Surinamese water,” Mustapha said.
