More than ten days after they were reported missing, the whereabouts of five Cedros fishermen are still unknown.
The men, 35-year-old captain Davanand Seepaul, his 60-year-old father David Seepaul, and three others, 18-year-old Jeremiah Pasqual, 20-year-old Shiva Seepersad, and 21-year-old Braiyer Alexander Gonzalez Ali, left on February 25 in a vessel named Amanda, to venture in the Gulf of Paria on a fishing trip.
When they did not return home as anticipated, their families raised an alarm and alerted the authorities.
Some six days later, while responding to an urgent question in the Parliament surrounding the matter, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the men had reportedly ventured into an area known as “Green Bush” or “the Mang” which is “well within the Venezuelan territory.”
“In fact, the names “Green Bush” and “Mang” refer to the area where the mangrove grows in the River Delta. Therefore, the men would have reportedly gone to an area where Trinidad and Tobago has no jurisdiction,” Hinds said.
Meanwhile in an update with Loop News today, Hunters Search and Rescue Team head Vallence Rambharat confirmed that the body of a man was found on Saturday evening on Venezuela’s Maturin coast.
He noted however that while his contact in Perdernales, Venezuela said that an autopsy is scheduled to be performed on the body today, there’s no confirmation at this time that it may be that of a missing fisherman.
Rambharat did confirm however that the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard is working directly with the families of the five missing fishermen concerning the body being found and ongoing search efforts.
Asked whether he believed the men did in fact venture into Venezuelan waters to fish, Rambharat said his team visited the area where the body was found and strongly believed so.
“The reality is many local fishermen choose to do so, to venture into these waters due to the availability of certain types of fish…especially because of the long stretch of mangrove. So, some fishermen choose to take a risk,” he explained.