Agreement Signed to Protect Fishers Against Seismic Survey Loss

The Jamaica Fishermen Co-op Union and Norwegian firm, Wavefield Inseis, have signed a compensation agreement, which will offer protection to fishers during the undertaking of offshore seismic operations in Jamaica’s territorial waters.
The agreement was signed by Chairman of the Jamaica Fishermen Co-op Union, Honeyghen Havelan, and Operations Manager of Wavefield Inseis, which will carry out the activities, Francis McLaughlin.
The signing took place on January 28 during a tour of the MV Discoverer 2 seismic vessel, which will be utilised in the seismic operations, at the Kingston Wharves.
The agreement, entitled: ‘Compensation Agreement: Rules and Procedures for the Protecting of Fishing Interest in the Conduct of offshore Seismic Operations’, encapsulates the interest of the Jamaican fishers and offers certain protection of their rights.
Mr. Havelan informed that the “compensation package is done to secure against the losses of the fishers for any damage done while seismic surveys are undertaken. We have done two of these signings before, and this one is no different from those we have already signed.”
In commending the move to establish the agreement, Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings, noted the significance of the document in stipulating provisions to protect the interests of fisher folk during the seismic operations.
“This was done as a means to secure the situation where our fisher folks are concerned, both commercial fishermen and of course those who are small time fishermen,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr. McLaughlin noted that “we are very conscious of the fisheries, and we will go through every effort to make sure that we co-operate with all the departments and the relocation of traps and the establishment, particularly on the Pedro Banks.”
The signing came against the background of a three-month seismic operation, which will be undertaken in Jamaica’s territorial waters to explore for oil and gas resources.
The exploration will be conducted by Wavefield Inseis, which is a Norwegian marine geological company, that provides proprietary data acquisition services, and offers a portfolio of non-exclusive multi-client data, developed in partnership with oil companies and Governments, to the global exploration community.