With just a few days to the start of the nationwide closed fishing season, some fishermen are demanding the date be changed from May to July.
Although they acknowledge that the closure of the fishing season is crucial, they say the May 13 to June 13 date announced by the Ministry is useless because it is not backed by scientific research.
[contextly_sidebar id=”mGe0wvoiSiSN8nZWSfP9VSB8h0WpWOOV”]Executive Secretary of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council, Nii Abeo Ayereauanda IV, insisted that the new date proposal makes a better impact.
“They made it absolutely clear that any close season declared between January and June will produce no effect, it will be useless but from July 30th or 31st you can have 20% impact on the level of fishes, so that is the best time to effect a close season. According to the scientists, the best next period apart from August should be July,” he said.
Last month, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture announced the nationwide closed season for fishing as May 15 to June 15, 2019.
The closed season is intended to allow fish spawn to improve Ghana’s dwindling fish stocks.
Last year, stakeholders in the fisheries sector opposed the ban because of what they said was the failure of the Ministry to inform them ahead of time.
Sector Minister, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, said her outfit has therefore had several engagements with the various stakeholders this year, to arrive at the date, adding that the Ministry will collaborate with the Ghana Navy to ensure strict compliance.
At a media encounter in Accra on Wednesday, the sector minister said that the fisherfolk have assured them of their willingness to comply with the ban.
“This year, we wanted it to be a demand driven activity and voluntary. So we asked the fisherman themselves to give us the date that makes them comfortable. In our consultations, we came to a conclusion; the fishermen themselves give us the dates which they believe could do the closed seasons.”
“So they gave us the 15th of May to the 15th of June for the inshore and artisanal fishermen. The industrial trawlers also agreed their closed season from the 1stof August to the 30th of September”, she said.