Two fishermen reported missing

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Two fishermen have been reported missing and their pirogue that was stolen washed ashore in Granville on Tuesday.

The two fishermen from Carli Bay Fishing Association who were on board—Navindra Garib aka “Tall Man” and Sutram Boodoo aka “Brain” are missing.

Imtiaz Mohammed, president of the Carli Bay Fishing Association, in a release, said “Our ‘Gulf of Pirates’ is becoming more and more murderous.”

The Fishermen Friends of the Seas and the Carli Bay Fishing Association has warned that any vessel that approaches within 600 feet is considered a dangerous threat and an act of violence.

“Fishermen are warned to be on guard and be prepared to flee at any moment. Our fishers are being murdered at sea!” Mohammed said.

“With all the brand new multi-million dollar war ship’s docked at the Coast Guard Base, piracy and murder at sea will continue unabated until we have functional radars,” he added.

On June 15, this year, the body of fisherman Andrew Volman, 62, who was forced to jump off his boat by gun-toting robbers washed ashore in La Brea.

That attack was one of at least three in the Gulf of Paria within that week in which fishermen were forced overboard by pirates who stole their boats.

In that incident, police said Volman’s boat was found drifting in the Gulf of Paria minus its engine. Volman was with his cousin Konata Mabatano, who was also forced overboard but survived, during the attack.

In an interview then with Guardian Media, Mabatano, who was preparing to leave with a fellow fisherman to search for his cousin, recalled that he and Volman left King’s Wharf at about 5 pm on June 13.

Mabatano, a retired carpenter, sometimes went fishing with his cousin for fun and to get fish for his family.

He said Volman jumped first but he (Mabatano) was struck on his face with a gunbutt by one of the men.

He said he saw his cousin a distance away in the water. Scared that he was going to die, Mabatano said he kept swimming.

Another fisherman, Clinton Lochan, complained that for years fishermen have been attacked and robbed at sea and they are fed up and tired.

He said fishermen who were lucky to survive their ordeals lose their livelihoods when their boats and engines are stolen.

Subsequent to that incident, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds met with the Carli Bay and Claxton Bay Fishing Association.

The meeting was held at the ministry’s building in Port-of-Spain and attended by various security experts, including the Coast Guard and T&T Police Service’s Coastal and Riverine Unit.