The Minister for Fishery and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson has said the government has distributed a total of 15000 bags of rice with 6250 cartons of oil to communities along the coastal area with over 75000 people benefiting.
The Minister noted the intervention is first of its kind and aimed at reducing the effect of the 2021 closed season on the livelihood of fishers and the fishing communities and to ensure compliance.
Taking her turn at the weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information on Sunday (12 September, 2021), Madam Mavis Koomson indicated her ministry has also initiated the distribution of approved fishing nets to some fishermen in the Volta and Cental Region, adding other regions are expected to receive their fishing nets as soon as possible.
The Awutu Senya East Member of Parliament believes the marine and fresh water bodies of Ghana are well endowed with fishery resources.
However she emphasized this when properly managed will provide sustainable economic opportunities for the country.
According to her, the marine fish catch has experienced considerable decline in recent years, attributing it to overfishing and overexploitation.
“With the exception of the tuna fleet which remains reportedly unaffected, the Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE) of all fleet has experienced decline over the years. Fish landings of some key marine species like sardinellas are at their lowest levels recorded and are of much smaller sizes” the Minister added.
To effectively combat the menace, the Awutu Senya East lawmaker stated this requires strict enforcement of the Fisheries Act, 2002, (Act 625).
In addition, she said the National Marine Fisheries Management Plan (2015 to 2019) has started the implementation of Closed Season for industrial fleet in 2016 as a marine fish stock recovery strategy to complement other existing strategies for the sustainable management of the resources.
“In 2019, the Ministry after extensive consultation and engagements implemented the all fleets Closed Season for the first time. For 2020, the artisanal and the semi-industrial fleets could not observe the Closed Season due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the containment measures which affected consultations, as well as, engagement activities” she explained.
