Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 05, 2021 Letters
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – Over the years, there have been many issues I’ve touch on, and some require first-hand knowledge or in-depth examination. I did see many issues being printed and certain information being conveniently omitted or missed. That sometimes would cause heated discussions or mislead people and create many problems. Many media operatives would selectively submit what they wanted to disclose to the public at times and would be considered mischievous, depending on the media house agenda. Recently, a few from the fishing industry raise a concern about the scarcity of fish in the sea and hints that the exploration and drilling of oil are the reason for such. The government also seems supportive of that theory and signals their interest to conduct a study to see if indeed that’s the situation and would be seeking remedies to address the situation. No doubt, that would end up being a costly project and would also possibly pave the way for corruption. Even though I’m sympathetic for the effects happening to everyone due to the shortage, the fishermen and government are not being fully honest to the public.
Editor, being an inquisitive person, I’ve managed to make friends with many fishermen and fishing boat owners and was privileged to go on fishing trips and also gain first-hand information. Oil exploration and drilling are in Guyana for a few years, but it’s unreasonable to believe the fishing industry would be reduced so drastically because of that. There are hundreds or maybe a little over a thousand fishing boats in Guyana, and the government over the years failed to monitor the fishing industry properly. Many fishing boats would make catches and they would decide if they wanted to keep or throw away the dead fishes. Many fishes would be very small and unusable and because of the fishing method used to catch them, most would be dead before going onto the boats, and then they would be discarded back into the sea. Fishes and shrimps have breeding seasons and whilst the trawlers would be forced to halt fish/shrimp catching, other fishing vessels are allowed, and that severely impacts the growth. Fishermen continuously use certain working areas that they refer to as ‘work ground’ and many captains only know to go to work grounds instead of exploring other fishing grounds. Trawlers cause tremendous damage to the seabeds and that affects the fishes/shrimps, causing them to migrate to other places. Before oil exploration, we’ve been hearing of Guyanese fishing vessels being caught in other countries fishing illegally, and whilst many boats obtain a licence to fish in other countries, many continue to do so illegally. In addition, fishing boats from other countries also enter Guyana’s water and fish illegally. Whilst many fishing boat owners threaten to sell their boasts, the majority them stay comfortably at home and give their boats to people to work. As a result, there are many places when the captain and crew would take the boat and sell the catch out and party, then go back and tell the owners that things were bad at sea. Then some are referred to as ‘pirates’ where the boat captain and crew would telephone when coming in and the ‘pirates’ would go out with small boats and buy either the shrimps, prawns, or fishes. Certain boats stop crews and captains from going on boats with cell phones, but they still manage to smuggle phones on the boats to conduct their nefarious activities.
Finally Editor, a few years ago, I penned my concerns about the freshwater fishes and for the sake of clarity, I’ll just revisit it as a reference. Years ago, after a few crops, GuySuCo used to flood fields for six months and over, sometimes years, for the fields to produce better yields. The supposed genius government hired to manage GuySuCo gradually reduce the flooding period of the fields tremendously and that affects the canes a lot as well as the production of sugar. Not only was the cane industry affected, but also freshwater fishes/shrimps also. Because the fields were being flooded for such long periods, fishes/shrimps were being able to breed properly in the flooded fields and when the water got released into the trenches, the fishes/shrimps got the opportunity to spread out. Because the fields are not being flooded for long periods, the canes and fishes got affected. Now there are many, many trenches in the cane fields that don’t have that many fishes/shrimps. Many of these fields are being converted to housing schemes, which causes me to wonder if the government intended to sabotage the sugar industry for their agenda and was doing it slowly.
Sahadeo Bates
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 29, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – After a series of outstanding performances in 2023, Tianna Springer, dubbed the ‘wonder girl’, is eagerly gearing up to compete in this year’s...Kaieteur News – Good Friday in Guyana is not what it used to be. The day has lost much of its solemnity. The one day... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]