Mr Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, a Fisheries Activist has called for a holistic approach to the management of Ghana’s fishing sector as using close season alone is not enough.
Mr Amarfio who is also the Secretary for the Ghana Tuna Association (GTA) explained that “we are just scratching the surface of the problem; close season alone can never resolve our fisheries problems.”
He said since the close season begun in November 2016, there had not been a single evaluation on it to show its impact on the sector.
Mr Amarfio was speaking at the sixth edition of the Tema Ghana News Agency Monthly Stakeholder Engagement and Workers’ Appreciation Day seminar aimed at providing a platform for both state and non-state actors to deliberate on national issues.
It also serves as a motivational mechanism to acknowledge staff editorial contributions towards national building and the Tema Industrial News Hub targets and mandate.
The GTA Secretary noted that for countries where it was practised, a stock of the fishes was documented before the close season and after opening another one was done, this he said made it possible for evaluations to reveal the impact of the policy.
According to him, there were some agitations among fisher-folks concerning the close season because those in charge were not providing any data to prove its effectiveness, in addition to the lack of alternative livelihood for the fishing community during that period.
Mr Amarfio who is also the Director of Operations for Laif Fisheries said while artisanal fishing was closed from July 01 to 31,that of the industrial trawlers was often observed between July 01 to August 31.
He explained that it defeated the purpose of the close season which was to allow the fishes to lay their eggs to replace their lost population and increase the fish stock.
He explained that while the industrial trawlers were in their close season, the artisans who do not go deep into the sea would have access to the pregnant fish as they laid their eggs.
He suggested that other management tools such as creating artificial reefs would help save the country’s fishing industry explaining that it was one of the many tools used by marine conservationists.
Mr Amarfio added that the reefs which could be made from a variety of natural or synthetic materials aimed at providing a stable growing area and habitat for fishes where they could migrate to lay their eggs and replenish.
He said another tool was also to reduce the huge number of canoes and trawlers on Ghana’s seas disclosing that it was unacceptable to have over 4,000 canoes chasing the dwindling stock saying that even though the sea did not dry, the fishes in Ghana’s side was getting finished and if care was not taken the industry would collapse.
Mr. Francis Ameyibor, the Tema Regional Manager, said the stakeholder engagement which comes on the last Wednesday of every month, was a progressive media caucus platform created to give the opportunity to both state and non-state stakeholders to interact with journalists and address national issues.
He said modern journalism demanded a comprehensive dynamic approach to issues that affected society, through which they provided a platform for proactive engagement and exchange of ideas towards shaping national development.
He said: “We have progressed from docile journalistic practices where media practitioners depended solely on projecting agenda set by others. Journalists cannot claim to be agenda setters when they are only mirroring what someone wants them to project”.
