Guyanese fisherfolk are now being asked to pay US$4500 and over annually to rent fishing licences from Surinamese holders leaving them at their wit’s end as to how they will be able to turn a decent profit this year given the stalemate between the two sides on the licensing of 150 local fishing boats.
In 2021, an agreement between Suriname and Guyana was reached for 150 fisherfolk here to be granted licences by Paramaribo starting from January 2022 but it is still to be realized after pushback from licence holders in Nickerie who currently rent licences to Guyanese and stand to lose revenue.
The Surinamese holders purchase the yearly licence for less than US$50 and then rent it to Guyanese fisherfolk. Stabroek News was told that the licence which started being issued recently for the year 2023 is now being rented to Guyanese for US$4500 and US$5000 by the holders – the highest it has ever been.
Before the issue arose, licences were being rented yearly to Guyanese fisherfolk US$2500 and US$3000.
Fishermen in the Corentyne area last week told Stabroek News that they are in a state of frustration as they are unsure of how they will be able to make a decent profit for the year 2023, as the cost to rent the licence itself will take up about six months of their yearly profit.
According to the fishermen, in addition to the increase in the cost of the licence, they are also being asked to leave their boats in Suriname – a situation that has left them even more frustrated.
Stabroek News was told that some of the holders have tightened the reins and are claiming that for them to be able to get the licence from the Suriname authorities they must show that the boats are being anchored in Suriname.
Presently, about 50 of Guyana’s boats are being left in Suriname and the catches from those boats are sold in Suriname. This, the fishermen said is another major issue they are facing, “because them paying in SRD (Suriname currency) and then we got to sell for lil and nothing and when we bring back the money we barely getting anything when we change it.”
According to the fishermen, the boats are now equipped with trackers – a new requirement – so the locations of the boats are being monitored and would be easily discovered if they were to attempt to come to Guyana to discharge their catches.
“The 5000 US$ (is) too much pressure on us, we got to cater for repairs, cater for trips, the boys saying we only making curry now… Be time we come over we get money for lil ration and that’s it.”
Lil curry
Another said, “This year we working for licence and maintenance and you taking home lil curry. You make lil ration money. If one boat makes an average of $200,000 per month then we got to work six months to pay licence money and we got to get maintenance and repair boat.”
Additionally, the fishermen explained, that even if they notice small leaks on their boats they are not allowed to bring them to Guyana for repairs so they operate in fright that the leak might expand while out at sea and they could possibly lose their lives.
“A lot of us and them man does do a puja on them boat before we go out and you can’t even do that now. You can’t repair it quickly. We fear a day the boat might go out with the small leak get bigger and workman might (lose) them life… All these things we dealing with… Them licence owner a claim that the people that monitoring the tracking device they putting pressure on them but everybody ignoring the fact that is Guyana boats.”
Additionally, the fishermen explained, that if there is any issue with their engine they are forced to rent a speed boat to bring the engine to Guyana to repair, “and if you take the engine back and something else got to do you got to rent another speed boat and bring it back and go and come and bear all that expense.”
The fishermen declined to share their names as according to them the Surinamese are monitoring the newspapers in Guyana and are labeling them “trouble makers” for speaking out.
In some cases, licence holders are being told not to rent to those persons who are speaking out about the issue in the newspapers. “They are very powerful persons cause they make a lot of money…”
One boat owner who has been in the industry for decades said, “All we asking for is the licence name change from the Surina-mese name to Guyanese… The government (here) even said that if they needed us to establish a company in Suriname and deal with all the logistics they would do it but they still didn’t agree to give us.”
The man pointed out that another boat owner’s fisherman was injured recently “and he boat stick up deh about five days now. Nobody don’t want to go out from Suriname… If was in Guyana he could a see another man and send out his boat to work… Is bare nightmare and punishment to the highest extent. We never expect this thing to happen so.”
Meanwhile, Stabroek News was told that there are a few licence holders who are not “fighting you down” and as such those boats are coming to Guyana and selling their catches here. However, to make it to Guyana those boats are forced to hide the names on the boats themselves. “People doing spy work, take the picture of the boat and report back. Them a seh them get seine problems, hide and come over and sell the fish and block out the names for the people na see it or the licence people them go get the problem.”
Meanwhile, all of the fishermen spoke of the importance of the industry and their contributions over the years as they pleaded with the local authorities to speed up the licensing process.
In February, a group of fishermen visited State House in New Amsterdam, where President Irfaan Ali held a two-day outreach. Stabroek News was told, that the men raised their concerns and the issues they are facing with President Ali.
