Fisheries Management
A call for robust management of the Sargussum threat.
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…
Safeguarding Our Country’s Future
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 Uni…
North Coast Crying in Vain
Date: November 21st, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Shrimp Trawling has been likened (by the World Resources Institute in Washington DC) to dynamite fishing in terms of sustainability. For this reason…
Minister, where are the so Called “Radars”?
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 wa…
Hold your tongue, Minister Young!
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 statem…
All Talk No Action!
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 stakehol…
Venezuelan Pirates Chased Several Fishermen Today Today we were lucky, but will we be lucky tomorrow? Mr. Prime Minister, where are you?
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…
Three more fishermen are missing (and possibly dead)
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 ha…
Murder and Piracy in Lawless Seas
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 Understand…
Are we crying in vain? (see Downloadable PDF for correspondence sent)
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 i…
Waiting for Regular Gas
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 t…
Is Our Government Fiddling While Our Fishers Are Being Attacked Relentlessly?
Date: September 13th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Yesterday we had another close call with death! Another one of our fishers, Christopher Granger from La Lune, Moruga was attacked and shot in the c…
Please join us in solidarity
Date: September 6th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, In times of danger we must stand together, patriotically defending our liberty, our flag and our nation. Families of murdered victims and caring cit…
Brutalizing our voiceless
Date: August 16th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, On 13th August 2019, in his address at the ceremony for the ‘Inter-Agency Memorandum of Understanding for Collaboration in Regulating Fishing a…
Lawlessness in Tobago too!
Date: July 26th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Early this morning ( Friday 26th July 2019), between the hours of 11pm – 3am, two vessels Unity TFT 1429 and Sauce TFT 1662 along with their Yama…
Two more fishermen bodies found
The Government cannot continue creating chaos for our citizens and must be held accountable. Enough is enough! When will we have a single prosecution and conviction for the spate of piracy threatening…
EIGHT MEN MISSING AT SEA
Date: July 23th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Last night around midnight, four (4) vessels were stolen from the Gulf of Paria in the vicinity of Carli Bay and Orange Valley. Several fishermen …
Energy Instability
The extractive sector is the foundation of our unstable economy and requires the best minds, the greatest transparency and the most thorough accountability. Our government needs to be reminded that…
Avoidable Fatalities
How many more must die before our Parliamentarians sit up and address these avoidable and recurring fatalities?
Callousness is contagious
Unless each one of us makes our voices heard we fear that we will continue to lose our spirit of nationhood, patriotism and solidarity.
How many more must suffer or die?
Year after year our Government pumps billions into our TTCG, and yet our seafarers continue to be brutalized!
The macabre jouvert stage for officeholders to parade.
As long as our maritime borders continue to remain unsecured, unprotected and exposed to Venezuelan smugglers gun eradication will continue to be a macabre jouvert stage for officeholders to parade.
FFOS are encouraged despite the attacks
Date: February 20th 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) are encouraged by the recent questions on the fisherfolks’ “regular” gas crisis posed in Parliament…
Unfair Treatment ‘Defined’
Date: February 15th 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) are questioning the Government’s logic of disproportionate fines for the same offense. The Honourab…
Until our maritime waters are protected, seafarers are advised to take all necessary precautions at sea.
Until and unless Government can deliver on their promises, our coastlines and our seafarers will continuously be threatened.
FFOS issues public warning to ALL Seafarers
Date: January 30th 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Presently, five Trinidad and Tobago citizens have been kidnapped from our maritime waters and are being held for a USD 200,000.00 ransom. In 2…
More innocents kidnapped in Venezuela
Date: January 30th 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Presently, five Trinidad and Tobago citizens have been kidnapped from our maritime waters and are being held for a USD 200,000.00 ransom. In 2…
Safeguarding our Country’s Future
Up to now ‘Big Oil’ has not proven there is no impact of seismic surveys. The burden of proof must be on them. Our Government is reminded that if there is no zooplankton, there are no fish
Minister F Khan is Wrong
Date: January 19th 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishing is the only source of income for our fishers who have invested in their vessels, engines and nets and are now faced, without any forewarni…
Without Law Enforcement, there can be no order.
These important spawning grounds are rendered lifeless. Our already over-exploited benthic organisms and juvenile fish are on the brink of collapse while our fishing communities are left impoverished.…
Another Avoidable Death
Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) issue condolences to the family of Neil Ramkhelawansingh, our deceased fisher who fell off a fishing boat close to the Godineau Bridg…
Fish kill or Fish dump? You decide.
Date: July 21st , 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, According to the IMA in an article published on 6th July 2017 “Fish gulping for air at the surface, would indicate a contaminant was present in …
La Brea: Fish kill or fish dump?
Date: June 30th , 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, For the past 52 months since the 2013 Petrotrin oil spills, sudden, major and ongoing fish kills have been re-occurring daily in the “clearly de…
Public health threat…statements must be supported by science, not speculation
Date: June 18th, 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, FFOS take strong objection to unsubstantiated and speculative statements. At the beginning of every rainy season since the December 17th 2013 P…
The escalating crisis of our Venezuelan border. Who is responsible?
Date: April 11th, 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Today there is now a free flow of persons, creatures, and contraband through the Venezuelan-Trinidadian marine border. Seasoned seamen know that…
Questionable National Priorities
Date: January 31s 2018 Dear Editor/Newsroom, The Bloomberg exposé has brought to light a dark reality that Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) have been cautioned not to speak about. T…
Flouting the Law
These five shrimp trawlers are openly violating the Shrimp Trawl Regulations under the watchful eyes of Government. FFOS have made public and have reported alleged conflicts of interest within the Co…
FFOS responds to IMA: Bait Dump vs. Fish Kill in Chaguaramas
FFOS continue to appeal to the Government and our environmental institutions to share this eminent scientific analysis, or to conduct scientific analysis (if none has been done) instead of blurting ou…
La Brea Community Sentenced to Death
Unless our Government treats this health disaster with a matter of extreme urgency, they will continue to endorse the endangerment of public life and public health. This is no matter to play politics …
World Environmental Day must be more than lip service….
Date: June 3rd , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, World Environment Day must be more than lip service… Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) are proud that the United Nations has designated…
The Chaguaramas Fish Kill Continues……
Date: May 25th , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, The Chaguaramas Fish Kill Continues……. Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) report that on Monday 22nd May at 6.30pm, tens of thousands…
“Guardians of the Sea”…..?
Date: May 25th , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, “Guardians of the Sea”…..? The Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) has recently released the 2016 State of the Marine Environment Report wh…
Chaguaramas once again covered with dead fish
Date: May 19th , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Chaguaramas once again covered with dead Fish Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) are once again reporting that presently as we write Calypso Mar…
Dead fishes by the thousands in Chaguaramas
Date: May 11th , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) have received pictures today (Thursday 11th may 2017) which clearly show larger fishes such as catfish, ar…
Another Oil Spill
Should we not have a Law that forces all oil companies to report ALL OR ANY oil spills? How many spills are reported and how many go unreported?
Venezuela Invades Trinidad and Tobago!
Date: April 3rd , 2017 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Attached is also an audio clipping of the following press statement. Venezuela Invades Trinidad and Tobago! Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (F…
Is Fish Safe To Eat?
Date: September 21st ,2016 Dear Editor/Newsroom, In light of the independent laboratory analysis conducted by the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) for Fishermen and Friends of…
Official Statements on the La Brea Fish Kill Investigation
September 20th 2016 Due to conflicting information provided to the media over the past few months, FFOS now seeks to clarify the evidence on the on-going Fish Kills in the South Western peninsula…
Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Response to the July, 2016 Joint Press Release by The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) And The Institute Of Marine Affairs (IMA): “Investigation Into Gulf Of Paria Fish Kills Continues”.
On numerous occasions FFOS has provided samples for the EMA and the IMA to test – fish, crabs, shark, pelicans, and bottle nose dolphins – yet we have never received a single report, or even a definit…