Guyana, Suriname to establish Joint Commission on fisheries – Pres Ali

Guyana and Suriname have agreed to set up a joint commission to further advance cooperation in the fisheries sector – a move that could be a resolution to the long-awaited issuance of licences to Guyanese fishermen.
Since 2021, Suriname had promised to issue some 150 licences for Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in the territorial waters of the Dutch-speaking nation. But to date, these licences are yet to be issued, despite repeated efforts by Guyanese authorities to get this matter resolved.

However, during a high-level meeting between President Irfaan Ali and the newly elected Surinamese President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, discussions were held on key areas of collaboration, including agriculture.
“We agreed to establish a Joint Commission comprising the Ministers responsible for fisheries, technical teams and relevant stakeholders, including the fishing societies themselves and our fisherfolk, before the end of 2025 to further advance cooperation in fisheries,” President Ali revealed at a joint press conference in Nieuw Nickerie on Saturday following the high-level engagement.
On her part, President Geerlings-Simons said that cooperation between Guyana and Suriname on the fisheries sector cannot happen in an ad hoc manner. She contended that the Joint Commission would have to work out what that cooperation should look like to ensure that both countries benefit from it.
Guyanese fishermen operate from the Corentyne Coast and have to use the Corentyne River to get access to the Atlantic, where they get most of their catch. The Corentyne River is Surinamese territory.
Over recent years, however, with the failure of the Suriname Government to uphold its pledge, Guyanese fisherfolk are being exploited and made to pay exorbitant fees to rent licences that are issued to Surinamese businessmen in order to operate in the border river.

Reneged on commitment
Following a high-level meeting in Georgetown back in August 2021 between President Ali and then Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the Dutch Government committed to issuing 150 fisherfolk here with licences starting from January 2022 to operate in Suriname’s territorial waters.
But during a January sitting of the National Assembly, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha stated that Suriname has “reneged” on its commitment.
“It is not in our hands… The Surinamese authorities would have promised us 150 licences. We had a commitment from no less a person than the President himself. I had an email from the Minister of Agriculture from Suriname, stating the modus operandi, how they will go about issuing the licences… [But] they reneged on the commitment; we had it in writing,” the Minister stated.
Nevertheless, Mustapha had assured that Guyana continues to make representations at various forums, including at the Caribbean Fishing Authority, to ensure that the local fishermen get the permit to operate in Suriname’s water.
“We can’t bind them so that they have to give [the licences] to us… We work through the diplomatic channel, we work through the international channel, and we will continue to represent the fisherfolk,” the Agriculture Minister stressed.
However, stakeholders in the local fishing industry, especially operators along the Corentyne, have been calling for the Guyana Government to apply more pressure on its Surinamese counterpart to resolve the fishing licences issue.

Dissatisfaction with lack of progress
Only last October, Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had expressed his dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Surinamese Government is handling the age-old fishing licence issue with Guyana.
“It’s utterly disgusting,” VP Jagdeo declared when he was asked for an update on the matter.
According to the VP, who had in the past upset Surinamese officials with his strong condemnation on the matter, the system in the Dutch nation is very opaque.
“It’s a very opaque system, and the Surinamese Government has not been courageous enough to address it in a manner that would be consistent with good neighbourliness,” he had stated.
On the side-lines of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference held in Georgetown in February 2024, former President Santokhi had assured that this issue was on the agenda for dialogue between the two countries.
Asked by Guyana Times then whether there could be a resolution before the end of 2024, Santokhi, who has since been replaced by President Geerlings-Simons at the country’s May 2025 elections, had explained that there were some legal issues in Suriname that could require parliamentary amendments or a new agreement between the two countries.