Mavis Hawa Koomson
THE CLOSED FISHING season for this year is set to commence on Monday, July 1, government has announced.
Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, made this announcement during an engagement with the Greater Accra Canoe Fishermen Council in Accra yesterday.
The closed fishing season, she explained, is aimed at conserving the sea to enhance its capacity to produce fishes, especially as illegal fishing practices have hampered it, saying it would benefit the fishermen the more if they complied accordingly.
Stressing on the importance of the exercise, Madam Koomson explained that global warming, together with other human activities such as galamsey,were adversely affecting the sea and life in it; and that countries like Liberia, Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo are also undertaking the same measure to conserve their seas.
The minister refuted claims that there would be no closed season this year, as it is an election year, branding such claims as “false”.
“The sea is like a human being. It needs rest. Numbers of fishermen have increased in recent years with an increase in the use of electronic gadgets which affects the viability of the sea to produce fishes. This has reduced the quantity of catch fishermen make, and it is the main reason for the implementation of the closed season,” she stated.
Government, in the meantime, would be supporting fishermen with relief items comprising of about 27,000 bags of rice, bottles of oil, among others, to cushion them during the period.
“We understand these relief items might not be enough to cater for you and your dependents throughout the period, but it is only to support you,” she intimated.
The minister also disclosed that as part of a livelihood empowerment programme, the ministry would be supporting dependents of fisherfolk with sewing machines, dryers, barbering kits etc. to help improve their living conditions.
She cautioned fishermen and the public to desist from politicising the closed season, saying, “We will not allow anyone to politicise this intervention. We should not allow that. The closed season has become a law. And this was passed in 2016, before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came into power. We shouldn’t politicise the closed season because it is about our lives; it is about our livelihoods.”
Some of the fishermen took turns to share their thoughts with the minister and their folks, including Joojo Solomon, Chairman of the National Canoe Fishermen Council, who charged his colleagues to desist from illegal fishing practices and employ sustainable fishing practices.
Nii Adjei from Prampram advocated for an engagement with fishermen to be held after the closed season, to review or evaluate the impact of the season on fisherfolk to ascertain challenges they may have encountered during the season.
This, he explained, would provide a blueprint for proper planning for future closed seasons.
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio