By Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, May 09, GNA – Three major fisher associations have unanimously made a strong case for the establishment of fisheries subcommittees in all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) along the country’s coast to champion the welfare of artisanal fishers.
The proposed subcommittees would help to highlight the various challenges of the fisheries sector, which often escape the attention of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), for consideration and redress.
The Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council (GNCFC), Ghana Inshore Fishers Association (GIFA), and the National Fish Processors and Traders Association (NAFPTA), made the call at an advocacy workshop organised by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
Nana Joojo Solomon, the President of GNCFC, noted that the artisanal fisheries industry was a major pillar of the economy, contributing significantly to food security, job creation, and foreign exchange.
However, he said the sector had many grey areas and pertinent issues cutting across regulation, sanitation, fuel among others that needed special attention.
Nana Solomon, who doubles as the President of the National Fishers Association of Ghana (NAFAG), stressed that there must be standalone subcommittees like the Fisheries Ministry, to enlighten MMDCEs and coordinating directors on the fisheries issues.
He said :“The fisherfolks form more than 10 per cent of the adult population in the country with three million people and therefore it is not an industry that can be trifled with,” he said.
“We are small scale fishers but as small as we are, we are too big to be ignored. We are a very good integral part of the economy contributing millions of dollars to GDP.
“When we superintend over the collapse of the sector, it will bring upon the country a lot of national security issues,” he cautioned, stressing that “we need people who will be on the ground to advise policymakers.”
EJF, an NGO protecting the rights of people and the environment, held the workshop to empower the fisher groups to develop a joint advocacy plan to engage with decision-makers on matters affecting them.
The exercise formed part of a three-year sustainable oceans project being jointly executed by three organisations including Hɛn Mpoano and the Central, and Western Fishmongers Improvement Association (CEWEFIA) with support from the Norwegian Government.
It seeks to build grassroots capacity for a sustainable economy in Ghana through inclusive, strong, and effective capacity building planning and management of coastal ecosystems.
The groups, after the training, identified some critical issues to be laid before their MMDCEs and Regional Ministers immediately for urgent consideration.
They agreed on strict unbiased enforcement of fishing regulations, preservation and improvement of landing and processing zones, regular patrolling of the coastal
waters by the Ghana Navy, and increased participation of district assemblies and traditional council in fisheries management as some of the urgent matters.
They also frowned on excessive partisan political interference in the management of the sector and called for an immediate stop to it.
Mr Osei Akoto-Nyantakyi, Programmes Officer with EJF, explained that the focus of the workshop was to harmonise respective advocacy plans for the associations after meeting them separately earlier.
He entreated the fisherfolks to rise up and ensure the industry was protected and sustained as their livelihoods depended on it.
Expressing supporting for the call for the establishment of subcommittees, Mr Akoto-Nyantakyi observed that there was little to no participation of MMDCEs in the affairs of the fishers in many of the assemblies, leaving them to struggle.
“In most of the coastal districts, a significant proportion of the population are fishers or processors and to have an assembly which is responsible for the development of the district not even have a subcommittee that looks at their issues means that they are on their own,” he said.
He believed that the proposed subcommittees would ensure the district assemblies planned well and help to police the system.
Mr Samuel Thompson, an executive member of the GIFA in Elmina, bemoaned the high cost of premix fuel and appealed to government to take action to reduce it.
He also called for the construction of bigger slipways across the landing beaches to hold more boats for maintenance.
Madam Margaret Graham, National Organiser, NAFPTA, called for the inclusion of women in the premix committees and other decision-making bodies to give them a voice and champion their interests.
She also outrightly, rejected the decision by government to cancel the closed season for artisanal fishers, calling on government to rescind same.
GNA
AT/BM