A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Dr. Isaac Okyere has urged Africans to avoid collaborating with foreigners in ways that exploit resources unsustainably.
He said these foreigners leave the country after fully exploiting and degrading the country’s resources.
Speaking on ATLFM’s Atlantic Wave on Thursday, November 21, as Ghana observed World Fisheries Day, he appealed to Ghanaians to be positively minded in their quest to exploit fisheries resources.
Touching on the celebration, Dr. Okyere also with the Centre for Coastal Management (ACECoR), argued that the World Fisheries Day observation is important because fish is the most traded commodity in the world currently and the cheapest source of protein.
He also highlighted the employment opportunities that fishing as an occupation gives to millions across the world.
For Ghana, he said it is estimated that the fisheries sector provides employment for more than 10 percent of the population directly and indirectly.
“So it is employment, it is food, it is nutrition, it is livelihoods, it’s income and it’s everything essentially,” he said.
Dr. Isaac Okyere as such, urged all Ghanaians to join the fight against illegal fishing to safeguard the country’s fisheries resources for a sustainable future.
One key thing the observation seeks to highlight is Distant water fishing (DWF) which refers to fleets that operate outside their own countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs), often traveling long distances.
Dr. Okyere mentioned that historically, Ghana has been a major player in West African Fishing but has been experiencing a major decline in its industrial fishing sector.
This he said, is largely due to illegal activity by foreign-owned distant-water fishing vessels.
“Mainly, if you talk to the fisheries enforcement units, a lot of the illegalities sweeping our fisheries to the extent of almost collapsing our fisheries are largely driven by those foreign-owned distant water fishing vessels.”
Meanwhile, he said the Distant Water Project aims to address these issues in collaboration with international partners.
Senior research and programmes manager at Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa (CEMLAWS Africa), Dr. Rebecca Kyerewa Essamuah further mentioned that the Distant Water Project seeks to promote the local capacity to address the negative impact of foreign-owned distant water fishing vessels in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea and Mauritania.
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The project which started in September 2022, is a two-year project funded by the Department of State through the U.S. Embassy based in Accra and due to wrap up soon.
Its main objectives include improving reportage by journalists, advocacy by CSOs and community actors, and assessing monitoring control and surveillance abilities.
Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
