Several fishermen who were attacked and robbed by pirates on Saturday in the Berbice River are planning protests to press for protection.

On Saturday morning around eight boats were attacked by armed pirates, who not only stripped the boats of their engines but also beat and terrorised some of the crew members.

The boat owners told this newspaper yesterday that they were not getting any protection from the state and as such they would be forced to take strike action if they hear nothing positive from the government by Friday. The owners also criticised the slothfulness of the Georgetown Fisherman's Co-op Society and other such bodies around the country saying that these bodies were not lobbying strongly enough for their members.

Stabroek News was unable to make contact with the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard commander or the manager of the Georgetown Fisherman's co-op. Over ten fishing boats have been attacked during the past four weeks in the Berbice River.

Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Satro Hansookdeo, owner of 'Captain Mark', one of the boats attacked, said the government should compensate them for the loss of their engines and also make a commitment to provide better Coast Guard patrols in the Berbice River.

Hansookdeo, from Mon Repos, lost his engine which cost $606,000. He said both his vessel and the engine were brand new and were on their first trip. He related that the boat with a five-member crew departed Port Georgetown last Friday for Berbice.

Hansookdeo was not on the boat at the time of the attack, but his captain said that on Saturday around 9:30 the men set sail in the river. While still in the vicinity of the river mouth the pirates pulled up alongside in a small boat bearing a flag and ordered them to stop. The men were then commanded to lie face down in the cabin while the pirates ripped out the engine, jumped back into their boat and sped off. Stabroek News was told that the pirates, five of them, were carrying small arms, cutlasses and other implements.

Leaving, 'Captain Mark' the pirates attacked 'Snow White' belonging to Brigmohan Rudranauth also of Mon Repos. Rudranauth told this newspaper that the pirates took his $612,000 engine, a quantity of groceries, a gas cylinder and a number of important documents.

The pirates went on to rob six other vessels stripping all of them of their engines and other equipment.

Both Hansookdeo and Rudranauth said that they had discussions with other fishermen and a protest was being planned. The boat owners said they were fed up of the many promises from the Ministry of Fisheries and would now have to take matters into their own hands for their own safety and survival.

"All the government doing is talking, no action and we fishermen have to suffer, we ain't getting any protection from either the police or GDF coast guard," Hansookdeo said.

He said he took a loan to purchase the engine and also spent some $300,000 to load the vessel to undertake the trip. Following the attack, he had to rent an engine to continue fishing so that he could recover his expenses.

"But I am not even sure whether I'll get it back. Right now the water very rough and sometimes you go out and the catch would just cover your expenditure, therefore you are left without anything."

Hansookdeo said that already some of his crewmembers have expressed fears about continuing the job. "This thing about pirates attacking boats is a everyday thing and them boys are very scared. Is only because they ain't get nothing else to do." All of the vessels were pulled ashore by a large boat on Saturday afternoon after being left to drift in rough waters.

With regards to security for his crewmembers, Hansookdeo was adamant that if there had been a Coast Guard patrol the pirates would have been intercepted.

He said, according to reports, the pirates spent more than five hours in the river and on their way back to shore they passed all eight vessels they had robbed.

The man pointed out that Saturday's incident was just another in a series.

"If the authorities are really concerned about fishermen, they would have taken a cue from what happened before and put things in place. But there is no GDF Coast Guard patrol, no maritime police patrol."

Rudranauth is urging the authorities to grant firearm licences to the fishermen. Rudranauth said unlike Hansookdeo he did not have the money to rent an engine and even if he had he would not have taken the risk. Rudranauth said it was not the first time his vessel suffered at the hands of pirates.

The attack came after a similar raid last Monday in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Borlam, East Coast Berbice. Two engines were taken at gunpoint by a five-member gang which also destroyed three engines in the process. Hansookdeo strongly believes that it was the same gang.

Last December, the captains and workers of three fishing boats were beaten with cutlasses and robbed of their engines and drums of gasoline off the Albion shore. The gunmen also destroyed the batteries, which the fishermen used for their lights and threw them overboard, believing that they were for radio sets.

During that attack three masked gunmen in a speedboat pulled up alongside and fired shots in the air demanding that the fishermen hand over the items.