Law enforcement authorities in Suriname arrested 19 Guyanese fishermen over the weekend for fishing illegally in the country’s waters.

Up to press time yesterday the fisher folk were still in custody in the Dutch- speaking nation and authorities said they would be prosecuted. 

Reports out of Suriname quoted the country’s defence minister Ivan Fernald as saying that the arrests were made over the last weekend and that the clampdown was spearheaded by the Navy.  The authorities have also seized three 60-foot vessels used by the fishermen and Fernald said he was satisfied with the arrests, Stabroek News was told.  “These crackdowns are very expensive operations so we had to make sure that we would be successful”, Fernald told reporters in Suriname on Monday.

Last month, fishermen in the former Dutch colony staged a demonstration to protest alleged harassment from Guyanese fishermen. The protestors were demanding stricter law enforcement by the authorities to drive out illegal fishers from their waters.

“Although we are licensed operators, we are now aliens in our own Surinamese fishing grounds”, said Prahlad Sewdien, President of the Suriname Seafood Association (SSA).  He said that the area between the Coppename River and Nickerie has been taken over by scores of Guyanese fishermen who were harassing local fishermen. “As soon as they (the illegal Guyanese) spot our men they are being contacted via radio and told to move from the area,” Sewdien said.  Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Kermechend Raghoebarsing had also complained that the illegal activities were threatening fish stocks and the sea turtle population, Stabroek News was told.