The Executive Director of the Centre for Maritime Laws and Security(CEMLAWS) Africa, Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, has disclosed that Ghana’s fish could be entirely out of stock in a few years if the activities of Distant Water Fishing Vessels are not checked.
He said Ghana is part of 10 countries globally that highly depend on fisheries. For that matter, there is an urgent need to protect the local industry.
“We depend heavily on fish as a country, so we cannot take the industry for granted. We must make sure that it is a resource that is protected,” Dr Ali stated.
Dr Ali said this during a workshop for journalists on the activities and impacts of Distant Water Fishing Vessels by CEMLAWS and the Centre for Coastal Management at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
Speaking at the workshop, Dr Isaac Okyere, the Academic Coordinator of CCM, said that Ghana’s fish stock has already declined steadily, especially sardinella, the major catch for artisanal fishers.
Meanwhile, Mr Sven Biermann, the Executive Director of the International Secretariat of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), lamented the lack of transparency in Ghana’s fisheries sector.
He said the government has enough data such as laws, permits, stock assessments, financial contributions and catch data on the sector but has not made it publicly accessible.
Mr Biermann added that the quality of the information that is accessible, particularly online, needs improvement.
Therefore, he urged the government and the necessary stakeholders to prioritise transparency to boost confidence in the sector.
Training
Some 30 journalists from various electronic and print media outlets received training on compelling reportage on the impact of DWFVs in Ghana.
The Department of State of the United States Embassy in Ghana funded the one-day training.
The objective of the training was to equip journalists with relevant skills and expertise in fisheries laws, management policies and fisheries livelihoods while drawing on lessons of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated(IUU) fishing and DWFV activities.
It also covered several topics, including an overview of the fisheries sector in Ghana, fisheries transparency and governance, and the destructive impacts of DWFVs on the livelihoods and food security of coastal communities.
This workshop forms part of the CEMLAWS project themed ‘Promoting local capacity to address destabilising impacts of foreign fishing vessels in the Gulf of Guinea and Mauritania’ to reposition the fisheries industry in Ghana and the sub-region.
The project seeks to evaluate the impacts and effects of foreign DWFVs and counter these effects by promoting media training and advocacy and developing strategies to enhance local-sustainable industrial fishing.
It spans 24 months with targets of seven countries, including Ghana, Benin, Cameron, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, and Senegal.