A Chinese commercial fishing company is angling on having 30 fishing vessels operating in Guyana despite opposition from fishermen in the South American country.
Fuzhou Hongdong Pelagic Fishery Co. has issued a proposal for permits for 120-foot trawlers, drift netters and auxiliary boats to operate on Guyanese waters, along with storage and processing facilities on land.
The company is also requesting for unspecified tax breaks for what they say would be an investment costing approximately $70 million that would bolster Guyana's exports, according to a copy of the document obtained by the The Associated Press.
Leslie Ramsammy, Guyana's Agriculture Minister, said that the Guyanese government has issued a request for additional information from Fuzhou Hongdong and has yet to make a decision.
The minister declined to say what other information the government was seeking, although a decision is not likely until after parliamentary elections are held in May this year.
Guyana previously reduced its commercial fleet in 2012 to less than 100 vessels due to overfishing. The government previously stated in 2014 that revenue from the fishing industry dropped by 6.5 percent over the past 12 months after it stopped issuing commercial licenses.
The main commercial fishing organization in Guyana is lobbying against granting the permits and tax breaks to Fuzhou Hongdong, as local fishermen will be competing with the company's larger boats.
"We don't have any more space to accommodate anybody else in the fishing grounds as these are almost fully exploited," Leslie Ramalho, former president of the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors, said to the press.
Ramalho added that the proposal will allow "factory boats at sea" that the Guyanese government would not be able to monitor properly.
Fuzhou Hongdong's proposal states that drift nets, trawls and set nets will be used for a test period of a year before phasing into full operations, and that they have plans to establish and incorporate in the South American nation.
The company also said that the operation would follow Guyana's laws and would use turtle excluder devices to prevent catching endangered sea turtles.