Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Agriculture has taken note of a letter in the Thursday, June 6, 2024 edition of the Stabroek News titled `East Berbice brackish water project too dangerous for agricultural activities and people living there’ written by Mr. Anthony Vieira.
Persons are entitled to their opinions on government projects that are developed to improve the lives of stakeholders as well as stimulate economic earnings, including especially those persons who were heavily involved in the initial stages of this project.
The brackish water shrimp project has proven to be a tremendous success and farmers involved have praised the government for providing the necessary resources to develop this industry. In fact, as has been widely reported, the Brackish Water Shrimp Industry supports the livelihood of thousands of persons, is worth over G$2 billion, and provides a tasty, demanded, high quality, and distinctively Guyanese product. Farmers in the rural areas were able to earn over $1.8 billion in 2023 as a result of the government’s intervention to develop this industry. With the assistance of the Fisheries Department, production moved from approximately 10,000 kg at the onset to 135,000 kg with only 70% of the project being completed thus far, leaving scope for additional increases in production and expanded beneficiaries.
In his letter, Mr. Vieira noted that “no feed is given, no attempt is made to control predators, or indeed to provide aeration to the water,”. There are no negative implications to this system. Rather, this is characteristic of a very environmentally friendly, low-input extensive system, producing a high-quality and high-value product. There are no additives, no hormones, no chemicals, no antibiotics. This is the epitome of an environmentally friendly system of aquaculture resulting in an excellent product with an exceptional price.
He also said that the reported amount of Brackish Water shrimp harvested in 2020 was massively overstated. On the contrary, it was found that the quantity produced was slightly understated. An analysis conducted by the Fisheries Department showed that with some basic Government interventions, such as D&I improvement, provision of tubes, and pond desilting, major increases in production could be achieved, without compromising the environmentally friendly nature of the operation. These are all interventions that were provided by the government resulting in significant production increases today.
Mr. Vieira also said that the farmers possessed more knowledge on brackish water shrimp cultivation than the Fisheries Department personnel. The farmers who were engaged have been involved in rearing brackish water shrimp for years. While they possess a wealth of knowledge as a result of their years of experience, more than any person not directly involved in day-to-day operations, the Fisheries Department was able to provide the farmers with technical support to leverage their traditional knowledge resulting in increas-ed production.
Comprehensive training activities, with follow-up interventions, to improve the capacity of the staff were also conducted resulting in the significant production increases observed today.
Mr. Vieira also stated that fish farmers burrow under the sea dam to facilitate the intake of seawater. The Fisheries Depart-ment is currently unaware of any farmer who burrows under the sea defence to obtain water for their cultivation. The Brackish Water industry is diverse, with many participants at different levels. For example, the largest farmer has three legal concrete structures, bringing in water to service his farm. Smaller farmers have inlet boxes, which also serve the same purpose. Some farmers obtain water via established canals. The tidal difference is sometimes more than two meters, facilitating water flow for ponds.
He also spoke about the location of some of the ponds and potential risks to the livelihood of several residents in the area. This is far from accurate as the area in question belongs to the largest brackish water shrimp farmer in Guyana. This farm has been in operation for decades, with no breaches of the sea defence, and no flooding has resulted. This farmer has three legal, strong, and permanent structures for irrigation and drainage of this farm. There is no danger to the sea defence here. There are areas where there are several miles from the sea dam to the water mark, due to accretion. In these areas, there are mangroves, and in some areas, there are Swamp Shrimp farming activities.
Mr. Vieira also accused farmers of destroying the mangroves to build ponds to farm this brackish water shrimp to the north or Atlantic of the sea dam. However, as far as the Fisheries Department is aware, the farming is conducted in narrow channels within the mangroves, and not in acres upon acres of cleared land. Farmers would not do this, since if they did, their shrimp would have no natural food, their ponds would wash away, and they would have no income.
Editor, farmers have been practising this type of activity for over 100 years on the Corentyne Coast, and the Corentyne Coast is still here. Since this project has commenced, there has been no breaching or catastrophic flooding. The technical opinion of the Ministry of Public Works, Sea Defence Board was sought as a matter of course and procedure regarding the Project and prepared a report accordingly. The report did not state that all farming activities should cease. Nor did the report find that any area was in imminent danger of collapse, or that a major flooding event was nigh. Since the expansion of the project, the Fisheries Department has actively been working to implement all the recommendations stated in the report.
The lands traditionally used for brackish water farming are swamp lands, flooded regularly in the past, and now rendered into productive use. No new lands have been taken into Swamp Shrimp production that were not previously salinized. Rather, due to Government intervention, productivity has been increased and expanded from lands that are in most cases not fit for any other type of agriculture.
Minister Mustapha has performed very well in his role as Minister of Agriculture. This is evident in the successful implementation and execution of several projects that have brought great relief to farmers and Guyana’s agriculture sector; the brackish water shrimp project being one of them.
Yours truly,
Tejnarine Geer,
Aquaculture Consultant,
Fisheries Department
