This is an open letter to the Hon. Minister Clarence Rambharat. We write to urge our Government’s action on a critical regional threat. While this sudden, new phenomenon of Sargassum weed washing up on our Caribbean coasts has existed since 2011, it has gotten worse each year and could increase exponentially. Locally, our recreational beaches have been blanketed and all […]
Date: January 24th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, For over 20 years, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) have consistently reported on the impact of seismic surveys on our fishers citing United Nations and other internationally published scientific studies. In 2017, the University of Tasmania presented evidence which argues that “seismic surveys cause significant mortality to zooplankton populations”. All larval krill […]
Date: November 15th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, All fishers and seafarers are being warned that there is NO LAW or order on our sea! Last night armed pirates attacked us AGAIN!!! The first call was made to the Coast Guard at 10.19pm and after repeated (10) calls the Coast Guard called us back after midnight and asked us to remove the […]
Date: October 26 th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, FFOS never intended to offend or confront the Honourable Minister of National Security but in our respectful view, it appears from his recent statements that he feels that fisher folk are blaming him for the Orange Valley mass murders at sea. We are not. Our mission is simple- to defend the voiceless, vulnerable […]
Date: October 24 th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Eight (8) weeks later (22nd October 2019), the Minister of National Security, Hon. Stuart Young has finally acknowledged receipt of our stakeholder’s correspondence dated August 26th, 2019, regarding the appointment of a multi-stakeholder committee to consider easy to implement recommendations for “security at sea”. Minister Young refers to our recommendations stating that ‘much […]
Date: October 14th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, We are pleased to announce that the Honourable Minister of National Security Stuart Young has responded to our messages but has warned us that we are “on very dangerous ground” and that we “be very cautious about what “causes” we “take up and who” we “decide to declare a “fisherman””. The common statement being […]
Date: October 8th , 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Three of our Icacos fishermen went to sea early this morning and are now kidnapped. An hour ago, a ransom of 10,000USD was called in. Their vessel has been found but the engine has been taken. Fisherman and captain Sneider, also known as “Carlo”, and two others are missing. Who will pay this […]
Date: September 27th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Consultation is a pillar of Democratic Nations. On 13th August 2019, in his address at the ceremony for the ‘Inter-Agency Memorandum of Understanding for Collaboration in Regulating Fishing and Fishing Related Activities and Relevant Trade’, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat referring to the Draft Fisheries Management Bill, is quoted […]
Date: September 27th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Enclosed please find a copy of correspondence today resent to our Prime Minister Rowley and our Minister of National Security, Stuart Young. This is the second “gentle reminder”, and third such copy we have sent (since the murders) with the hope that our leaders and our Cabinet would consider a strategically selected Cabinet appointed […]
Date: September 27th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, FFOS congratulates the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and their subsidiary Patriotic Energies and Technologies Services Limited in acquiring the Guaracara Refining Company Limited and the Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited. In an article titled “We will bring back affordable gas” in the Daily Express on December 19th 2018, President of the OWTU Ancil […]