By Lakhram Bhagirat
After years of being exploited by unscrupulous practices at the hands of some Surinamese fisherfolks, Guyanese fisherfolk fishing in Suriname’s territorial waters can now breathe a sigh of relief as measures have now been put in place to have them licensed by the Surinamese authorities.
This announcement was made by President Dr Irfaan Ali at a joint press conference with Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi on Thursday.
President Santokhi discussed the issuance of Suriname Coast (SK) fishing licences to Guyanese fisherfolk with President Ali during their four-day engagement. The Presidents agreed that their Ministers of Agriculture would work towards the issuance of fishing licences in that category by January 1, 2022.
However, this would be done in accordance with the established quota on the Surinamese side.
“I’m pleased at the conclusion of discussions between the Ministers of Agriculture…we have found a way forward in relation to the granting of licence by Suriname to our fisherfolks, and this would be in effect from January next year, and this is because that is the period that the licences are normally granted,” President Ali explained.
“When we dealt with this fishing industry and the licence in the initial stage, there were some allegations, and we asked the fishermen to give us the information in relation to those allegations in terms of licensing. So, we had a back-and-forward with that. That impeded the finalisation of this issue, but we have come to a solution,” he added.
Over the years, Guyanese fishermen who ply their trade in Surinamese waters have been complaining of undue harassment at the hands of their South American neighbours. The harassment came either from the authorities or their neighbouring fisherfolks.
They have been repeatedly complaining about the exploitative system that they have to endure in relation to acquiring a fishing licence in the Dutch-speaking country. Since the vessels are Guyanese owned and operated, the fisherfolks found it difficult to register them in Suriname, hence not being able to acquire licences to fish on the Surinamese coast.
Thinking of ways to beat the system, they were subjected to paying almost 50 times more than the cost for licences to operate. The Surinamese Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Ministry would issue SK licences for an approximate cost of US$75 or less, but when Guyanese fishermen have to acquire these licences through a middleman, they are made to pay as much as US$4000.
In an interview with this publication, Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha explained that the move would assist fisherfolk tremendously, since it means they would have to pay significantly less for their licences.
“I explained it a number of times that our fishermen would normally rent the licences from the middlemen in Suriname…so this will help them tremendously, and at the same time, they would be licensed directly, rather than to depend on those middlemen who are making the profit,” he said.
“Both sides agreed that they would start with the licensing here next year, when the new licence would commence. In the meantime, I would have got some more documents and submit to the Ministry of Agriculture (in Suriname) and I am in the process of doing that. Within two weeks I would have those documents, and then the preparatory works would commence to start leading up to the licensing for our fishermen,” Mustapha added.
Mustapha further noted that he already submitted 150 names for fisherfolk to receive their licences when the process commences. He said the names were submitted to him by representative organisations, and form the quota to which the Surinamese authorities agreed.
Fishing and traversing the Corentyne
Another sore point in the relationship of Guyana and Suriname has been access to the Corentyne River. Over the years, fisherfolk there have complained about undue harassment at the hands of the Dutch authorities. Additionally, residents in the Indigenous communities of Orealla and Siparuta have registered similar complaints, since they would have to use the Corentyne River to access their villages and livelihoods.
When asked about what guarantees he could give to the protection of Guyanese using the river, President Ali said they would address the concerns whenever complaints are made, and that systems are being put in place to curb the harassment.
“In terms of the issues on the Corentyne river with the Indigenous community and our fisherfolk, we raised this from the time it occurred with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he intervened. I think we had…two incidents reported to us, both there was intervention, and we also had discussion on how we can avoid situations like those in the future.
“We are in a process of identifying officials from both sides who can work in collaboration with each other to avoid these unfortunate incidents in the future,” the President said in response to questions posed by this publication.
In relation to fishing in the Corentyne, Minister Mustapha explained that a different licence would be needed by the Guyanese fisherfolks to operate there, but he added that those never came up in discussion with the Surinamese authorities. Based on Suriname’s laws, an Inland Water (BV) would be needed to fish in the Corentyne.
