Berbice fisherman loses seine, catch in piracy incident

Deonarine Permaul, a fisherman of Nigg Village, Region Six, is hoping for assistance from the relevant authorities following a piracy incident recently.

On Wednesday, Permaul and his crew set out on a fishing expedition from the Kilcoy Port.

Permaul stated that at approximately 18:30 hours, while working in the Atlantic Ocean, they were approached by a rogue vessel.

Permaul recounted how the pirates cut their seine in half, seizing a substantial portion of their catch.

“A boat come from Berbice River and it past side of us. It wait till place get dark and he drive and he come and cut me seine. He cut from halfway and then he gone,” he relayed.

When they returned to shore on Thursday, Permaul and his crew could only salvage one tub of fish, weighing a disappointing 93 pounds.

He estimated the value of the stolen seine at $700,000, along with an additional loss of approximately $30,000 in fish.

Permaul said he was able to identify the boat involved in the theft.

“The boat red at the bottom and green on top. I get to understand that this boat sell from Mahaica and a go over and reach Suriname. I get contact with the person who sell the boat. He said he sell the boat to somebody in Suriname,” Permaul said.

He further said,” If me get back my other half seine I can start back work again because me workmen them out of job. The seine is about 2 miles.”

Following this act, the incident was reported to the authorities.