The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) participated in a press conference organized by Ghana’s Fisheries Commission on the installation of electronic monitoring systems (EMS) on industrial vessels in Ghana, on 19 April 2023 at the NAFAG Hall, in Tema, Ghana.

The conference was attended by Ghana’s Hon. Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD), Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA), Stephen Adjokatcher, the Executive Director of MOFAD, Fred Antwi-Boadu, and the Chief-of-Party of Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA) Heather d’Agnes.

The installation marks the beginning of the pilot phase of the EMS project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project is slated to last for an Initially for a period of a year, 3 trawlers will be fitted with EMS devices to enhance transparency and accountability in the trawl sector. EMS comprises video cameras, remote sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and hard drives used jointly to collect data like fishing effort, catch composition, bycatch, and human welfare. The memorandum of understanding between Fisheries Commission and GITA was also signed at the event.  The conference was followed by a visit to Tema Port to witness the Installation of EMS on the Vessel Mengxin 1.