Sucre State in eastern Venezuela is known nationally as the region with the greatest fishing production and potential given its long coasts and the various locations dedicated to different types of fishing.
By Víctor Federico González // Correspondent lapatilla.com
According to the authorities, Sucre contributes more than 70% of the marine products consumed by Venezuelans. However, it is a questionable figure due to the multiple obstacles that men and women who work in this field must face.
From the high costs of supplies and spare parts for their boats, the long-standing shortage of fuel, to the “matraca” (shakedown) of institutions and security forces, are realities that sea workers face daily throughout the expanse of Sucre’s geography. Insecurity at sea is another problem that adds to the long list of hardships.
Some 15 municipalities make up the Sucre State, with the Bermúdez municipality being the territory that is credited with the greatest capacity for the capture of sardines, a species that plays an important role in the economy of the state’s capital, Carúpano, and adjacent towns. However, at present this has decayed caused by bureaucratic red tape that hinder the commercialization of this marine product and its use for the production of fishmeal.
Permits put fishermen in check
The political leader of Carúpano, Denncis Pazos, explained that there is an overproduction of sardines that he described as a “blessing from God”, but that their commercialization in markets outside of Sucre is threatened by the red tape imposed by the institutions linked to this matter.
Pazos indicated that only the trucks of the “sardine caravan”, administered by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, can transport and sell this fish totally excluding private merchants.
According to the opposition politician, Carúpano, Guaca and Guatapanare in Bermúdez are the localities that are especially dedicated to the capture of this fish, as is El Morro de Puerto Santo in Arismendi.
Likewise, he advocated for the release of these permits by the Port Authority and the Socialist Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Insopesca) so that the economy of thousands of Sucre families can be recovered.
Intimidation of fishermen? A racket?
The lapatilla.com team in Sucre tried to contact the president of the Sardineros Association of Guaca, Carmen Elena Martínez, to find out first-hand what is happening in this important town, but requests for interviews were not answered.
For a journalist from Carupano, Raúl Lira, to talk about the business that sardines mean in Carúpano generates terror among the fishermen themselves, a direct result of the alleged threats they receive from officials of Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Other versions suggest that in some cases the complicit silence is due to the fact that they are involved in the “million-dollar businesses” behind the processing of this catch, which is then marketed abroad.
Furthermore, Lira added that between the months of May and October sardines abound and questioned that in some cases in order for Insopesca and other institutions to issue the required permits, seafarers must pay large amounts in U.S. dollars.
“Being in the sardine business is living the racket behind this species,” said the journalist, who added that there are approximately 32 “alcabalas” (checkpoints) between Carúpano and Caracas. In addition, he said that fishermen only have access to fuel through a single service station and the dispatch is only every other day. “Dollarized” gasoline (fuel paid in hard currency in cash) is “the daily bread” of sea workers who use engines in their tasks.
Stoppage of labor
Recently, the president of the “Sardineros” Association of Guaca, Carmen Elena Martínez, told the news outlet El Tiempo that the fishing community is evaluating the suspension of the catch for at least one or two weeks, due to market saturation, in part consequence of the non-authorization of the shipment to other regions by private carriers.
Among other factors, Martínez referred to the shortage of (packing) cans in some processing plants, insufficient supplies to prepare the different canned products in sauces, among other problems. At the time, the 10-kilogram box was being offered far salew at 3.5 dollars. At the beginning of the harvest season the cost was 8.3 dollars.
It is worth saying that there are approximately 3,000 workers who are harmed by this situation.
Arismendi’s reality
The President of the “Asociación de Sardineros de El Morro de Puerto Santos” (Sardine fishermen association), in Arismendi municipality in the eastern part of the state, Eudalys Torres, denounced that they are only allowed to fish two days a week, which are determined by the local authorities.
In the same way, she reproached that they are not granting the necessary permits so that this protein can be distributed throughout the national territory.
She pointed out that in some cases, drivers must spend up to six hours outside the Insopesca offices “waiting for the granting of this permit.”
According to Torres, another problem they face is the lack of support from national, regional and municipal authorities. The use of industrial trawlers to haul sardines would also be affecting them.
This is nothing new
By October 2020, the President of the Arismendi Fishermen’s Association, Manuel Cayetano, claimed that this species was being caught irrationally, which violated Venezuelan laws that establish the catch must measure at least 19 centimeters (almost 8 inches).
In time this could generate ecological degradation that would cause the disappearance of sardines and other marine species off the coast of Sucre. According to Cayetano, the authorities of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Maduro’s regime, Insopesca and the government of Sucre were not carrying out the necessary inspections, because this catch was being used for the production of fishmeal.
On the other hand, in December 2021, fishermen from the Arismendi, Sucre, Bermúdez and Cruz Salmerón Acosta municipalities protested in the Sucre capital to denounce non-compliance with the seasonal ban, which normally used to be annually from mid-December to March for the purpose of preserving the fisheries.