Unhealthy competition by industrial trawlers with artisanal fishers in Ghana over small pelagic fishes cannot be overlooked in the context of the country’s fisheries legislation, according to the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana.
In a press release dated 1 September 2021, Nana Kweigyah, Chairman of the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana, pointed to the decline in fish stocks; illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; the imposition of the European Union (EU) Yellow Card, and the need for fisheries management actions as issues that need to be addressed as concerns for artisanal fishers who, as the major stakeholders in artisanal fisheries, suffer the most consequences.
In the last few years, the Association says, competition from industrial and semi-industrial vessels within the Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) has grown, depriving artisanal fishers of livelihood sources. In spite of the establishment of the IEZ and prohibition of fishing within the zone by industrial vessels, as stated in section 81 of Act 625, fishing within the zone by industrial vessels has become very common, but at the expense of artisanal fishers.
The leadership of the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA) must be commended for the decision to terminate trans-shipment of fish at sea from some trawl vessels to canoes. The decision is a welcome one, and as industrial trawl vessels resume fishing today, after their two-month closed season, we look forward to that.
It must, however, be noted that, we artisanal fishers, are concerned not only about the trans-shipments at sea, but also by the harvesting of small pelagic and juvenile fishes with adapted trawl gears, and fishing within the IEZ, which is a reserve for small-scale fishers. Practically, industrial vessels are fishing what is ours by nature and by law.
This unhealthy competition by industrial trawlers with artisanal fishers over small pelagic fishes cannot be overlooked when section 51 of Act 625, which enjoins the Fisheries Commission to protect and promote artisanal fisheries. The continuous landing of small pelagic fishes by industrial vessels is unacceptable and must be stopped. These practices drive the collapse of artisanal fisheries.
We call on all fisheries stakeholders to support the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and the Fisheries Commission to eliminate this unhealthy competition, and save Ghana’s artisanal fisheries, the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana concludes.