By Laudia Sawer
Sege-Ada, Sept. 3, GNA – The Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG) has launched the Advancing Artisanal Fishers Rights through Equitable Co-Management project (The Fishers Rights Project) to promote human rights knowledge among fishermen.
The project is aimed at improving awareness about human rights issues relating to the decline in fish catch in artisanal fisheries, strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks that protect the rights of small-scale fishers, and strengthening co-management committees to improve fishers’ participation in decision-making.
Nana Kweigyah, the National President of CaFGOAG, told the Ghana News Agency that the Fisheries Commission reported overfishing in the Fisheries Management Plan of 2015-2019 and in the 2022-2026 plan.
He said the observation was that weak governance of the sector over the years had tolerated wasteful overcapacity and widespread Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling.
He added that weak enforcement in the industrial trawl sector has ushered in intense competition between large bottom trawlers and artisanal fishermen over small pelagic species.
“In effect, catch in the artisanal sector has declined, income of fishers has fallen, working conditions in artisanal fisheries have deteriorated, women fish processors suffer access to fisheries resources due to the low catch, and the standard of living in fishing communities has not improved,” he stated.
Nana Kweigyah noted that unfortunately, these issues continue to exist due to the lack of effective participation of fishers in fisheries governance and management; therefore, the “Fishers’ Rights Project” aims to promote the participation of fishers in Ghana’s fisheries governance.
He said during the implementation of the project, CaFGOAG would engage artisanal fishing communities to share their stories on the impact of the decline in fisheries, adding that such stories would support dialogues on destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling that contributed to fish stock depletion.
He added that to improve regulation and policy, CaFGOAG would undertake an assessment of legal and regulatory frameworks and engage fishers and other relevant stakeholders on recommendations necessary for the protection of human rights of small-scale fishers.
Nana Kweigyah indicated that to improve fishers’ participation in decision-making, the association would build the capacities of members of the Small Pelagic Co-management Committees, develop and implement communication and feedback plans for co-management representatives.
GNA