The arrested fishermen with their equipment
PERSONNEL OF the Eastern Naval Command at Tema Newtown in the Greater Accra Region have arrested 17 fishermen for allegedly engaging in illegal fishing in the country’s territorial waters.
The suspects have been handed over to the Marine Police of the Railways and Ports Department at the Tema Regional Police Command for further investigations and prosecution.
A total of 33 generator sets with each set connected to a 1000-Watt filament lamp, 11 canoes and other fishing equipment were confiscated from the arrested illegal fishermen.
Commodore Moses Beick-Baffoe, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command, explained that the fishermen were arrested when the Navy was on its usual patrol duty.
According to him, illegal fishing cost Ghana over 100 million euros recently. He added that the use of light to attract fish and other illegal means of fishing, including the use of dynamites, are adversely affecting the fishing industry in Ghana.
He said the phenomenon is now posing a massive threat to livelihoods of 10 percent of Ghana’s 24 million population who depend on the industry.
The practice, Commodore Buick-Baffoe noted, had drastically reduced the amount of fish caught by local fishermen and had thus, contributed to the rise in importation of fish into the country.
He pledged his outfit’s continuous protection of the shores of Ghana from illegal fishing and pirating.
Captain Emmanuel Kwafo, National Coordinator in-charge of Fisheries Enforcement Unit, said his outfit would continue to arrest and bring to book any illegal activities in the fishing industry.
FROM Vincent Kubi, Tema