The government has postponed the closed fishing season scheduled for this month, August 2018 to next year [2019].
Citi News’ Philip Lartey who attended the government’s meeting with stakeholders, reported that the decision was taken as a result of concerns raised by stakeholders.
He was, however, unable to tell whether the decision to move the closed season to next year was a Cabinet directive or not.
According to Philip, fisherfolk who have been agitating for weeks were excited about the decision.
More fishermen kick against the intended 1-month ban
Some fisher-folk at James Town and Chorkor in Accra had earlier told Citi News that the ban must end because it will affect them and their families.
“I make between Ghc100 and Ghc500 daily. I can’t do any work but fishing; I have been doing it since childhood. I have been a fisherman for 46 years and have never witnessed a ban on fishing activities. We are against it,” one of them had stated.
Another said that if the government should ban fishing, he will not be able to take care of his family.
“I have been doing this work for forty years. This is how I am able to cater for everyone in my family. What does the government expect me to do when the ban is imposed?”
In the Western Region, the fisherfolk had demonstrated against the intended ban.
Fisheries Alliance predicted halt in fishing activities in 2017
In 2017, the co-convener of the Fisheries Alliance, Richter Nii Armah Armafio, said that the Fisheries Commission was working with the implementers of the Sustainable Fisheries Management Plan Project to halt all fishing activities for one month this year.
The reason given at the time was that such an act would help in the regeneration of fish stock in Ghana’s fishing waters.
“Scientists are telling us that Sadinella stocks are pregnant around August and so if you have observed when you get them, they have a lot of eggs in them. The idea is to allow August to pass so that they will lay their eggs for the juveniles to go into the wild. The adults will then be available for capture.”
“You need every fish to spawn at least once to keep the cycle going. If we want to restock our fisheries, we need not disturb the spawning process.”
