NGO pushes for stiffer fisheries laws in Ghana

by Charles Takyi-Boadu
Date: 03-08-2006
Source: Ghanaian Chronicle
As Ghana's fishing industry is crumpling on the verge of collapse with the employment of all kinds of weird illegal means in harvesting fish, Mr. David Eli, Field Director of TESCOD, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), is pushing for the implementation of existing and stiffer laws. This, according to him, would at least decrease the activities of illegal fishermen and sea fearers on the shores of Ghana. Since the spate of depletion has assumed an alarming proportion in recent times, he believes that the implementation of such policies and laws would tend to protect the industry from further degradation. Speaking at a forum in Accra under the auspices of Food Security Advocacy Network (FoodSPAN), the umbrella of civil society organisations with keen interest in food security policies and practices in Ghana, Mr. Eli stressed that "there is an urgent need to review the strategies to strengthen the enforcement capability for both local and foreign operators in the sector". This, he said would take away the existing weak policy framework that does not promote the long sustainability of the fishing resources in the industry. He also stressed the need to ban outright, pair trawling, otherwise known as China-China since according to him, the activities of such trawlers was having very serious consequential effects on the country's fishing industry. If possible, Mr. Eli who has conducted an extensive research on the "impacts of fishery related policies on coastal communities has suggested the ban of all trawling if stocks do not rebuild in a given period of five years. By freezing a number of industrial trawlers and progressively reducing their numbers, he stated that "the fishers think it can help bring life back to the sector". Also, he identified in his field research that there was a weakness of scientific knowledge about the state of stocks, which he said, was the basis for an appropriate and sustainable management of resources. Considering the extent of depletion caused to the industry, Mr. Eli did not mince words in apportioning much of the blame "on the lack of political will, incoherency and bad governance regarding the resources". This, he said, was evident in the fact of insufficient surveillance and control measures to counter illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities of particularly fleets of Asian origin known as 'pair trawling'. Most of these fleets of Chinese origin, he noted, were having dire effects on the industry and the use of light for fishing being a contributory factor. Further, he mentioned the use of illegal gears such as bamboo, mosquito nets and other unapproved methods in fishing as gradually crippling the once vibrant industry hence the need to implement the existing laws to serve as deterrent to individuals and organisations who fall foul of the law. He has thus called on policy makers to take into consideration the fact that "the decline of the once vibrant fisheries sector has grave consequences on many Ghanaians in terms of food security and livelihoods of coastal communities", stressing that "the new Fisheries Law of 2002 has the potential to address issues of over-exploitation and laws related to non-enforcement". For this reason, he said a long-term strategy was needed for its implementation.