The Guyana National Fisherfolk Organization (GNFO) hosted its second national election yesterday.
Representatives from the Upper Corentyne Fisherman Corp Society, Rosignol Fishermen’s Corp, Albion Landing Site, Tree Door Fishermen Corp, D’Edward Fishermen Corp, Parika Fisherman Corp, Lima’s Fishers’ Association, and the Greater Georgetown Fisherman’s Corp attended the exercise which was held in the main boardroom at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Mr. Vishnu Persaud and Mr. Veeram Ramsarran were among those elected to serve on the GNFO.
During his brief remarks at the event, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha was keen to note that the election of the Guyana National Fisherfolk’s Organization comes at an opportune time when the Ministry and the government are encouraging fisherfolk to be more aware of their role and responsibility, as well as their participatory approach in the fisheries management process.
Further to this, the official said that his Ministry is working to address several issues faced by fisherfolk as it relates to piracy and the granting of licenses to Guyanese fishermen to fish in Suriname’s waters.
He said, “This year we’ve allocated large sums of money to develop the fishing industry. We’ve also acquired a fisheries monitoring vessel so that we can execute patrolling operations to protect our Exclusive Economic Zone. We also recognize that our fisherfolk are severely affected by piracy.”
The Minister added, “Only today (yesterday) I received reports of a recent attack on one of our fishing vessels by armed Venezuelans. We are now taking the necessary steps to procure equipment and recruit capable personnel to commence patrolling our Coast.”
Similar to the Guyana Rice Producers Association, the GNFO was officially formed in 2008 as an umbrella body to unite fisherfolk in Guyana. Preliminary works were done but the organization subsequently became dormant.
