File photo: The group is calling on MoFAD to urgently step in to curb the devastating practice
Illegal fishing activities along Ghana’s coast have in recent times reached an alarming rate, a factor contributing largely to the wanton depletion of the fish stock.
The operations of Chinese vessels, especially Pair-Trawlers are also increasing the situation, raising concerns about the commitment of relevant institutions in enforcing fishing laws and regulatory frameworks.
Against this backdrop, a group of fishers calling itself the Concerned Net Owners Association, which operates at the Denu Landing Beach in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region has raised critical concerns about the dominant practice, calling on the Ministry of Fisheries and Aqua Culture Development (MoFAD) to urgently step in to curb the devastating practice.
In a petition addressed to the sector minister and copied to relevant institutions, the group pointed accusing fingers at their counterparts at Adina, a major fishing community in the Municipality who according to them were deeply involved in the use of Poly nets for their activities (which importation and use was banned since 1994, by the then Jerry Rawlings led administration.
“Adina, for example, has over 300 Poly nets operating at that landing beach alone – Meanwhile, the approved measurement of Poly nets required for weaving our nets is just 50 yards – nowadays, you could count up to 500 yards from beginning to the end of the fishing nets,” lamented Francis Kofi Bedzo, leader of the group, who doubles as the Volta Regional Organizer of the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG).
One major issue the group raised, is the issue of light fishing, which they also vehemently criticized, accusing chief fishermen along the landing beaches of conniving with strange canoes and allowing them to engage in the practice with impunity.
According to the group, some individuals, also fishers are quick to apprehend some locals, even attacking them at sea at the behest of the District Chief Fisherman for engaging in similar methods, sometimes leading to the distraction of fishing gear, running into tens of thousands of Ghana cedis and bodily injury to the fishers, necessitating calls for prompt intervention from the authorities to stem the tide and for peace to prevail going forward.
In a related development, the group has also petitioned the National Premix Secretariat to investigate the arbitrary formation of Premix fuel committees at the various landing beaches along the coast. The group claimed that the formation of the new landing beach committee for Denu was done by individuals purporting to be members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who without consultations with the Community Based Fisheries Management Committee (CBFMC) and fisher associations and other interest groups, selected individuals who were not engaged in any fishing activities or were not affiliated to any fisher groups to hold positions on the newly formed committee.
They are therefore calling on the National Premix Coordinator to cause the immediate dissolution of the said committee and call for a consultative meeting with all parties where qualified persons, vexed in the business of fishing will be selected to manage premix operations so as to ensure that the purpose of the committee was not defeated.