Fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago received over $77.3 million in payments as compensation for seismic activity from five oil companies between 2010 and 2013, the Ministry of Energy reported yesterday.
The ministry released the information hours after dozens of fishermen from across Trinidad staged a demonstration in downtown Port-of-Spain yesterday to vent their anger at the impact that seismic surveys have had on fish stock.
The protest took place near the Ministry of Energy, Waterfront Complex. According to the Ministry of Energy document, Centrica, Niko Resources, BGTT, bpTT and Repsol forked out $7,008,000 in 2010; $26,896,949 in 2011; $29,025,260.83 in 2012 and $14,375,986.44 in 2013. That totals $77,306,196.27 for the four-year period.
The Business Guardian reported in its September 27, 2012 edition that when oil companies conducted seismic operations offshore, they usually compensated fishermen for lost catch and to stay away from their installations. T&T’s largest oil and gas producer, bpTT, said in the article they paid about $8,545 a month a boat to the fisherfolk during the seismic period.
The leaders of associations of fisherfolk, quoted in the Business Guardian article, said the seismic surveys scared away the fish and damaged the seabed. The companies report these figures to the ministry to recoup part of it and benefit from tax incentives on capital expenditure.
Compensatory payments to fishermen for the loss of earnings as a result of seismic activity were confirmed by Peter Glodon, the president of the T&T Unified Fisher Folk (TUFF) and the vice- president of the organisation, Kishore Boodram, both of whom participated in yesterday’s demonstration.
At the protest, some fishermen held placards and protested on the boardwalk while approximately 50 fishing vessels gathered in the harbour. Fishermen from Cocorite and Sea Lots and as far as Icacos, Cedros and Blanchisseuse took part. The fishermen on the boats used bullhorns, flags and other methods to get the attention of spectators who gathered on the shore to watch the spectacle.
In an interview at the protest, Boodram, who is also the president of the Claxton Bay Fishing Association, said fishing stock had been depleted by seismic surveys being done in local waters. The surveys use reflected sound waves to determine suitable sites for underwater drilling and exploration. They are said to disturb and distress marine life, especially cetaceans, such as whales, porpoises and dolphins.
Petrotrin announced last week it would be doing surveys for five months, starting in December.
2012 GUARDIAN MEDIA LIMITED