Emelia Arthur
The Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) has been called upon to reconsider its decision of exempting artisanal fishers from the annual closed fishing season.
The current Marine Fisheries Management Plan enjoins government to enforce fishing closed season for all fleets to ensure rebuilding of the stocks.
After the coming into force of the 2014 Fisheries Management Plan, Ghana has since 2016 been implementing closed seasons, with the inclusion of the artisanal fishers in 2019.
However, the current minister, Emelia Arthur, has announced that artisanal fishers will be exempted from this year’s closed season.
The Journalists for Responsible Fisheries and Environment (JRFE) has described the decision by the minister as quite worrying.
JRFE is a journalist and media advocacy network with interest in fisheries, blue economy, environment and climate change adaptation.
JRFE, in a statement, noted that the closed season initiative was part of measures being implemented to help replenish Ghana’s fishery resources.
The journalists have therefore called on the ministry and the Fisheries Commission to ensure strict adherence of the measures by all fishermen.
They also called on the ministry to punish fishers who engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, ensure the use of multi-filament nets by artisanal fishers and compliance of the traditional non-fishing days and any additional fishing holiday.
According to the journalists, Section 42 of the Fisheries Act (Act 625) mandates the ministry and Fisheries Commission to ensure that all fishery policies and decisions are based on scientific evidence to avoid over exploitation.
“So the ministry must as a matter of urgency ensure the strict enforcement of all other management measures to safeguard Ghana’s fisheries,” the journalists added.
The journalists stated, “It took time, efforts and resources before getting artisanal fishers to appreciate the need to agree and comply with the annual closed season in a bid to replenish fish stocks.”
“The adherence and compliance level last year for instance was phenomenal, an indication that much efforts have gone into education and awareness creation,” the journalists noted.
They continued, “We cannot take one step forward towards rebuilding the fish stock as a country and take three steps backwards.”
“We cannot fail posterity. As millions of Ghanaians depend on artisanal fisheries for their livelihoods, we must safeguard it,” the statement pointed out.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi