-stage protest
A small group of fishermen in Region Two yesterday staged a protest to draw the attention of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Department to several issues including the need for more protection at sea
During the protest, they highlighted the challenges they face at sea and following the demonstration, they met with regional officials to discuss their issues.
The fishermen met with Regional Chairperson, Vilma De Silva; Regional Vice Chairman, Humace Oodit; and the Prime Minister’s Representative, Arnold Adams; in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
They reported being frequently bullied at sea by other fishermen and called for coastguard supervision to ensure their safety.
Haresh Singh, a well-known fisherman in the region, said that fishermen’s nets are often destroyed by others, necessitating a system to represent their interests. His placard read, “The fisheries department are lying to fishermen.” The fisherman disclosed that he lives at Sparta in Region Two and has been in the trade for over two decades. He related that he has been facing a lot of difficulties at sea especially with piracy and bullying from other fishermen.
“Only recently my boat sank, this is what I do, to load a boat to go out in the sea is $200,000 and when you go and face challenges it’s not feasible, due to this we can’t get to work, it has fishermen in this region that lost a lot of nets, we keep asking Chief Fisheries Officer for a meeting and he is not listening,” Singh lamented.
He noted that the fishermen had a fruitful meeting with the regional officials yesterday but opined that more needed to be done to represent fishermen in the area. Additionally, they are requesting a meeting with Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha.
Singh spoke of the existence of a registered cooperative, the Region Two Fishermen Co-op, which consists of local fishermen. He added that many fishermen are currently unable to work due to the destruction of their nets, leading to financial difficulties, including debts to commercial banks.
“When we go to throw we net, it has other boat owners that chopping our net, [and] when we move there is rough water and many times we sink. Also the imported fish is cheaper than our fish and we want it to stop immediately”, Singh said.
Another fisherman, Ramanand Jailall, said that he has been in the fishing business for over 35 years. Recently his boat went out and he lost close to $2.5 million dollars worth of seine. As such, he cannot venture back to the sea since he cannot afford it. Jailall said that the process is quite costly and many times they cannot afford it.
Meanwhile, regional officials assured the fishermen that their concerns would be communicated to the relevant authorities. De Silva told the fisherfolk that the regional administration will represent them and a meeting will soon be convened with the Minister of Agriculture where they can state their concerns. She also urged them to form groups and look out for each other.
