A group of fishers in the Central Region has registered its displeasure with being neglected when the fisheries Ministry makes decisions about its operations.
The fishers lamented that decisions about their welfare only get to them through the radio or television without the policymakers interacting with them but basing their choices on theories.
According to these Fishermen, the Ministry should endeavor to engage them and seek their opinions about notable policies that will affect their business. These, they said at a Durbar in the Central Region following an order from the Fisheries Ministry to start the closed season between July and September this year and in the coming years instead of the existing schedule from July to August.
“We are the people doing the job. We know all the details and the rules of the fishing game. However, we are always sidelined in terms of major decisions being made. Involve us in making decisions and stop the many theories because those theories won’t help us. The primary season for fishing starts in July to September, and that is when we have been asked not to go fishing. Many of us are full-time fishers, meaning, we don’t have any side job besides fishing. There is time for everything in the other sectors of the economy. There is time to harvest cassava if you are a farmer, but as for fishers, our story is different. We are consistently denied access to reaping the full potential in the sector at the right time.”
Fishermen spokesperson- Yaw Attah
Promising the fishers, the Central Regional Minister, Mrs. Marigold Assan, at the durbar said all their grievances expressed would be considered and acted upon.
Reason for the change in closed season this year
According to the fisheries Ministries, a survey showed that July and August fall within the peak spawning period in Ghana’s waters. Hence, it proposed changes in the closure season. One of the propositions is that an additional one-month closed season for all fishers be implemented during the minor upwelling season of December to February in the future.
In a conference, the Fisheries Minister, Madam Hawa Koomson, explained that the decision is to reduce the high pressure on the stocks and allow the fish to maximize its recruitment potential during the annual peak spawning period before fishers harvest them.
The Fisheries Minister explained further that the changes are not determined by the Fishery Ministries but by the current happenings and findings.
“The 2021 closed fishing season was implemented from July 1 to July 31, 2021, for the Artisanal and the Semi-industrial fleets and for the Industrial trawl fleet from July 1 to August 31, 2021. In 2019, the closed fishing season was observed from May 15 to June 15, 2019, for the Artisanal and Semi-industrial sectors. The fishers were against it during July to September’s major upwelling season. Therefore, measures must be put in place to safeguard the fishing industry to ensure continuous contribution to socio-economic development in the fishing communities and the nation as a whole. One of such measures is the observance of closed fishing seasons in line with section 84 of the Fisheries Act 625.”
Hawa Koomson
READ ASLO: Mind The Gap: Oxfam’s Fourth Supermarket Scorecard Elucidated
