Family ends search for missing Guyanese fisherman

Relatives of Guyanese fisherman Permaul Punsammy have made the heartbreaking decision to stop searching for him, weeks after he fell overboard during a fishing trip in Suriname.

Speaking with the News Room, Punsammy’s daughter, Kamini Candasawmmy, said the family has exhausted every possible effort to find her father alive and has now come to terms with the likelihood that he has died. After he went missing on December 19, 2025, the family organised an extensive search that lasted for more than two weeks.

According to Candasawmmy, they hired a drone operator, contacted fishermen across multiple wharves, and relied on relatives and friends to help search Surinamese waters, but all efforts proved unsuccessful.

“We hired someone with a drone and we keep on looking for two weeks and we didn’t find anything. We sent messages to all the fishermen at all the wharves and nobody see him,” she said.

With no sightings or updates after weeks of searching, the family eventually stopped the effort. They later held 16 nights of religious wake, followed by a religious ceremony on the 16th day.

“It’s been really rough. We miss him so much, words cannot even explain. He was a very good man,” Candasawmmy said.

Punsammy, a fisherman for more than 30 years and the father of six children, fell overboard while fishing in Surinamese waters. Days after he went missing, some of his personal belongings were recovered.

His brother, 56-year-old Veerasammy Punsammy, who was fishing with him at the time, had told the News Room that it was raining when Permaul became entangled in a seine net that was being cast into the Coppename River and fell into the water.

After noticing what had happened, the crew immediately began searching and calling out to him. Veerasammy said his brother responded three times.

“After he call on me we start pull back the seine. Abe tie the seine so if he hold on it he can come up, but he na hold on the seine,” the brother recounted.

When the net was retrieved, Permaul’s cloak was found hooked onto it. Veerasammy believes his brother may have tried to remove the cloak in hopes of grabbing the seine again, but was unable to do so. A short distance away, the crew later found Permaul’s headlight.

The search continued throughout the night and into the following morning. The next day, the crew visited several landing sites in Suriname and sought help from other boat operators. The incident was also reported to Surinamese authorities, and a formal report was filed at the Number 51 Police Station.

Given the time that has passed, Veerasammy said he believes his brother could not have survived.