Fuel price squeezing fishing industry
Stabroek News
April 16, 2004
As fuel prices continue to rise and overseas markets get increasingly competitive, small boat owners are seeing profits sink.
Leonard, a fishermen for six years, told Stabroek Business at the Meadow Bank Fishing Wharf, that since the Georgetown Fishermen's Co-operative Society(GFCS) buys a large quantity of fuel, then they should get duty- free concessions, just like foreign companies in Guyana.
This gasoline price "is unfair," says Leonard, adding that he pays $504 per gallon for gasoline from the GFCS.
"One stage we[are at] all the time," he says of the fishing business.
Fishermen with boats like Leonard's go to sea with up to ten 50-gallon drums of gasoline but sometimes do not return with a catch to cover their fuel costs.
"No law for fishermen... fishermen is the lowest class," Leonard complained, adding that pirates steal their gasoline and engines but when the matter is reported to the police nothing happens.
Seafood traders in the Corentyne and other areas have been frequently attacked by armed bandits, but arrests are still to be made.
"I would like to sell out my boat," says one fisherman, but adds that no one wants to buy it.
The operator of the boat 'Sir Michael' says if he would be allowed by the authorities, he would prefer to import his own fuel and pay the necessary taxes.
Sometimes it takes $200,000 to fuel and equip 'Sir Michael' for a fishing trip and at times the catch is only worth $75,000 after spending 16 days at sea, the owner says. In some cases the workers cannot be paid.
Many of the fishermen at the Meadow Bank Wharf also complain that the fees for the boat licences are too expensive. Some fishermen were told that they must pay over $100,000 to obtain a boat licence.
Boats are being fined as much as $50,000 to $60,000 if they are caught without the captain's licence by marine police, Stabroek Business was told.
"I am sorry I get in this work but it's hard to get out," declared another fisherman.
Manager of the GFCS, Mohammed Khan told Stabroek Business that it is Caricom which is stipulating that governments must have marine vessels registered and that captains must obtain licences.
Khan also explained that the fishermen who are finding it difficult to cope are those with old engines and boats.
Fishermen need representation
One fisherman with 25 years experience at sea, said he would like to see fishermen receive more representation.
Fishermen should get a 'marine book' where all their paid dues are recorded so that this could be a pension when they retire.
Moreover, this would ensure the families of fishermen, who are lost at sea or are maimed while on duty, receive compensation.
This fisherman also wants boat owners to split profits more evenly.
After a catch is sold, the boat owner takes half of the sum while the remainder is split between the captain and the crew.
The fisherman feels that instead of the captain being paid from the crew's half, the boat owner should pay the captain.
Shrimpers
Shrimpers say if fuel prices continue to increase and export markets do not pick up, their trade could be in jeopardy.
These comments came from two shrimpers at the Meadow Bank Fishing Wharf.
Dereck Khan, a shrimper for five years, now sells a basket(the standard measurement) for $150, down from $200 in December. This is despite increased fuel prices.
After Khan buys the GFCS gasoline for $504 a gallon this is further mixed with oil which increases the cost to $610 per gallon.
"This wuk will flap," he warns, if costs keep increasing.
Coupled with this, "people ain't really buying now," Khan says, adding that even the large seafood processors like Pritipaul Singh are not buying his shrimp since their export markets have decreased.
According to a March 29 article by the Houston Chronicle, for the first time in history, every one of the 200-plus shrimp boats in the Brownsville, Texas harbour is idle. Texas, Louisiana and Alaska are the top three producers in the USA.
Shrimpers in this US state claimed that the problem stems from countries which are dumping cheap pond-raised shrimp on the US market.
As a result an eight-state coalition known as the Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a lawsuit in December accusing the top six countries which export shrimp to the US of dumping; a decision from the lawsuit is expected in June.
Dumping is defined as exporting goods to a country at prices lower than those charged in the home country or elsewhere - at prices less than the cost to produce the goods.
Guyana is the 11th largest exporter of shrimp to the US and local exporters told Stabroek Business that Guyanese exporters are also suffering from cheap prices in the US markets, coupled with high production costs (fuel making up 40%) at home.
"The fuel price is expensive, it already hard now," says Lildar, a Good Fortuin boat owner in the fishing business for 25 years.
A shallow seashore has also forced many fishermen to go longer distances to fish, which means that more fuel is used as well as more ice, to keep the fish from spoiling.
Lildar says if the gasoline prices continue to increase, then it would no longer be profitable to stay in business, although he is presently able to cover his expenses.
All of this happens even as the domestic prices for seafood remain stagnant. Lildar says he has not increased the prices for his seafood because the hucksters who sell at the local markets are accustomed to buying at one price. He says it is better for him when one exporter buys in bulk.
Small fishes like the 'fine banga' and the remaining shrimp not sold at the wharf are thrown away since small operators cannot afford to keep it on ice.
"We glad to get market for [the fine banga]," says Lildar, adding that this was a fish that seafood processors had once exported.