(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Gerrit Breinburg, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV) says that the tampering with fishery licences has not let up. He notes two significant evils: licensees who take their catch to Guyana and others who put their licences up for sale since they are not active in the fishing industry. LVV has for some time now been busy putting things right, issuing registration rounds and increasing inspections. Since November 1, current and prospective licence holders must re-register. “We’re trying to curb the situation for we no longer want people to walk around with a bag full of licences for sale.
We now check if licensees actually have a boat and the necessary gear for fishing. There are situations where people use two boats with the same registration number and name for one licence,’ Breinburg says. One of the causes of the widespread corruption is that Suriname still has abundant fishing grounds compared to neighbouring countries and the region. Suriname’s licensing system avoids overfishing. Guyana faces this problem, which is the reason why its fishermen legally and illegally move to Suriname.
There have even been cases of illegal fishermen from Venezuela and Trinidad. As the Surinamese fishing industry is dominated by Guyanese, they take their catch to Guyana where they get much more due to the constant scarcity over there. Suriname does not earn a cent from its rightful share in this natural resource.
