By Iddi Yire
Prampram (GAR), Feb 26, GNA – The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) three-day validation and training workshop for the Labour Department and other stakeholders on Fishing Convention No.188 (C188) has opened at Prampram in the Greater Accra Accra.
The workshop, which began on Wednesday, February 26, is to equip participants on implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) on applying C188 Provisions in the Artisanal Marine Fishing Sector.
The C188, which was adopted in 2007, is an international legal instrument that addresses working conditions and situations in the fisheries sector.
The aim of the Convention was to guarantee that fishers had decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels regarding minimum requirements for work on board; such as conditions of service; accommodation and food; occupational safety and health protection; medical care and social security.
Ghana ratified the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (C188) in August-2024,
Even before this feat, tripartite stakeholders; including the Government Agencies such as the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) Labour Department and Fisheries Commission, Fishers Union, Sector Employer and Business Membership Organisations (EBMOs) were engaged in mechanisms for the implementation of C188.
Mr Emmanuel Kwame Mensah, ILO National Project Coordinator for the 8.7 Accelerator Lab Project, said the purpose of this workshop was to contribute to the national mechanism for the implementation of the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C118) in the artisanal fishing sub-sector.
He said the specific objectives were to validate the SOP developed by the Labour Department in collaboration with the Fisheries Commission and other stakeholders and training labour inspectors, fisheries inspectors, vessel owners and fishers on the application of the SOP.
The SOP covers provisions in C188 such as recruitment and placement of fishers, minimum age, medical examination, hours of rest, safe staffing, and crew list.
Others are fisher’s work agreement, repatriation, payment of fishers, accommodation, food and water, medical care, occupational safety and health, social security, and protection in the case of work-related sickness, injury, or death.
Mr Francis Bebuski, the Head of the Legal Unit of the Labour Department, said the document on the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C118), which they were validation would go a long way to enhance the performance of the artisanal fishing industry in Ghana.
Madam Esi Bordah Quayson, Marine Director, Fisheries Commission, lauded the ILO for organizing the validation workshop on the SOP; stating that it was a noble effort that would help bring efficiency into Ghana’s Artisanal Fisheries industry
Nana Jojo Solomon, President of the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG), said Ghana’s ratification of C188,
which comes into effect on August 28, 2025, was a step on the right direction, which signals the country’s efforts to enhance working conditions in the fishing industry.
Mr Ebenezer Osabutey, Deputy General Secretary, National Union of Teamsters and General Workers (NUTEG), said there was the need for Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) document to be signed between the owners of canoes and the crew members, to enable the latter have something to rest on.
GNA