Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo
With the Government boosting its maritime assets to, among other things, curb illegal fishing in Guyana’s waters, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has hinted at the possibility of implementing a licensing system to not only streamline fishing operations, but also earn the country revenue.
It has been reported that Guyana loses hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of illegal fishing in its waters.
On Thursday, Vice President Jagdeo noted that this was a significant amount of potential revenue that the country was losing. To this end, he pointed to the Government’s efforts to enhance its capabilities to more effectively police its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“It is estimated that we could lose as much as $100 million per year from illegal fishing in our waters, but this is in the deep seas though. So, investing in more assets for the army would have that significant benefit of bringing in revenue or… even if it doesn’t allow us to bring in revenue, because they can keep the illegal fishing now, so that we can actively exercise a licensing regime so that there’d be more revenue for the country,” the Vice President stated.
Only last month, the Government announced that it had procured a French ‘mother ship’ for offshore Guyana. The sizable vessel which will patrol Guyana’s EEZ is part of the Government’s efforts to enhance national security, and in this case, curtail illegal fishing in the area.
Jagdeo told reporters at his press conference last week that the vessel has not yet arrived on local shores.
The EEZ, according to the United Nations, is an area of sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights to explore and harness the marine resources found there. For Guyana, oil exploration and production, and fishing is done in its EEZ.
The arrival of the vessels was announced on February 5 by President Dr Irfaan Ali. According to the Head of State, Guyana loses “hundreds of millions of dollars” each year on account of illegal fishing, so the Government had to act.
“We have negotiations going on with the French to have a ‘mother ship’ established in our EEZ. That is a high cost, but it is a cost that we have to incur now,” President Ali added.
In 2023, a report on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing was submitted to the Agriculture Ministry detailing that there were about 19,000 vessel-days when non
Guyanese flagged vessels were found in the country’s EEZ during the latter part of 2021.This revelation had heightened concerns about Guyana’s ability to patrol its EEZ.
However, the Agriculture Ministry in November launched a national action plan to combat IUU fishing, strengthening its approach to fisheries monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement.
In 2021, President Ali had vowed that the Guyana Defence Force’s capabilities would be boosted to help monitor both the EEZ and Guyana’s land borders.
Moreover, the Government had reassured members of the Private Sector that it was investing heavily in its security systems so that Guyana is protected from all threats. As part of that focus, new scanners will be installed at the ports of entry and exit to prevent smuggling of any kind. Guyana is currently partnering with the United Kingdom and Canada on a port security arrangement.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts to monitor the maritime borders, the Guyana Defence Force is procuring a brand-new Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), which was built by United States-based Metal Shark Boats for the Defence Force.
Chief-of-Defence Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Omar Khan disclosed last month this acquisition was part of efforts to modernise and expand the army to meet future defence and security needs – a huge aspect of which is to boost its assets.
This vessel is also slated to arrive in Guyana soon.
“That was a multi-year project where a new asset was being built and will be assigned to the [GDF] Coast Guard as part of their responsibility of managing our maritime areas of operation,” the Army Chief had stated.
The Guyana Government has heavily invested in boosting the country’s defensive capacity. A significant portion of the $1.146 trillion Budget for 2024, from which the Defence Force alone received $42.2 billion, has gone towards building the technical capability and assets of the local security sector.
