The Public Relations Officer for the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council, Nana Kweigyah says the introduction of the 3 years moratorium on new entrants of canoes by the Fisheries Commission will not address the declining volume of catch and profitability of fisheries in the country.
The Fisheries Commission believes the sector is currently struggling because of the presence of more canoes at sea leading to the decrease in catch and profitability of the venture. Thus, by implementing this policy, the sector could be put on the path of sustainable fishing.
However, Nana Kweigyah believes this initiative by the Commission will not address the sector’s problem.
In an interview with ATLFMNEWS, Nana Kweigyahexplained that “catch data from 1996-2016 points to the fact that, there are instances where an increase in canoes have resulted in an increase in catch, and catch decrease when canoes decrease…so to say that reducing canoes will guarantee profitability cannot be true.”
The fisheries sector is estimated to support over 135,000 fishers in the marine sub-sector alone and indirectly support the livelihoods of 2.2 million people in Ghana. Unfortunately, the economic benefits available from these fisheries are being drained away. In all probability, it costs more to catch and manage fisheries in Ghana than they return to the economy in income. This is because there is too little investment in management and value addition and there are too many vessels catching too few fish.
Nana Kweigya believes the issues of wrong fish net sizes and the activities of industrial vessels must be checked if Ghana’s fisheries sector should thrive.
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Source: Emmanuella Ama Gyamfi/ATLFMNEWS
