“The fish gone! The fish getaway. All over we deh searching. We went to Berbice. We went till to North West side fishing, trying to find a good area but we nah find the fish…” a frustrated Tony Persaud said on his return from his latest fishing expedition in the vicinity of North West District.
The move was to scope out profitable fishing grounds as he and other fishers have been forced out from the area they once operated – 15-17 miles out from the Liliendaal foreshore – by vessels supporting oil and gas activities here.
For the past five months, fishermen, who are accustomed to fishing in the area of the Liliendaal seawall, said they were instructed to move by crew members of vessels supporting ExxonMobil’s offshore operations as they were now working in the area.