By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Aug. 14, GNA — Mr Gilbert Paa Kwesi Sam, Deputy Executive Director, Blue Economy and Governance Consult, has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to consider a petition from industrial fishers to rethink the decision to extend Ghana’s Inshore Economic Zone (IEZ).
Mr Sam said it was important for the President to consider the extension petition as there were many implications for fishers and other users of Ghana’s territorial waters.
“We are pleading with the president; our petition is before him. He should consider all these things, because probably he was ill-informed about this perception of Chinese and others,” he added.
He made the plea during a media forum organised by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) on the topic: “Extending Ghana’s Inshore Exclusive Zone: Implications for Industrial Fisheries.”
He said that the extension had become a very pressing issue and great concern for the industry, stating that the 12 nautical mile extension had some history, expressing the conviction that it did not just happen.
“It was based on some allegations and happenings among those who use the sea. There have always been key contestations about the users, so you have industrial people, particularly the trawlers, artisanal, and inshore; the accusation is that these people stray into our territories and steal our fish.”
Mr Sam stressed that one group of people did not have ownership over the fish in the sea, indicating that the 1992 Constitution stipulated that all-natural resources belong to the republic and vested in the President, who holds them in trust for the people.
“I find it as a paradox that some fish belong to some people. When they see the industrial vessels, they say they are Chinese, Korean and American vessels, but we don’t manufacture vessels, so there is the need to form some partnerships. The fish is for Ghanaians, and we don’t have vessels; therefore, you must engage somebody with the expertise to help extract the resource,” he said.
He further explained that the fish caught by vessels, which are using Ghana as their flag state belong to Ghana, noting that such vessels could not land anywhere but Ghana’s port, where the fish would be discharged and accounted for before it could be exported, stressing that they could not flag a vessel of Ghana and sell the fish anywhere.
He revealed that anytime the trawl vessels land fish in Ghana, about 95 per cent was sold to Ghanaians, indicating that the only types of fish exported were the cuttlefish, octopus and others which Ghanaians often do not eat.
“The last time I checked, a vessel is doing about 120 metric tonnes, and they are only selling about 15 to 20 metric tonnes outside. That shows that the resources, as the constitution says, are for the republic and the people and are not for the vessel owners, so we eat it, and we sell right from the coast to the north. They are the ones used for selling kenkey, waakye and the rest. The fish they land ends up on the table of Ghanaians,” he stressed.
He expressed worry that the extension of the inshore economic zone had the potential to make Ghana a permanent yellow card state, which would eventually evolve into a red card.
“When it comes to public policy laws, we have to think more broadly than in a myopic way; you know fishers will always go to where the fish are; they don’t care. You can’t patrol six nautical miles, and you think you can patrol 12 nm. At whose cost? You need more fuel for the patrol boat to monitor them; if you are not there, they will stray further, and that will amount to IUU,” he cautioned.
Mr Sam observed that the international bodies would be monitoring such activities, and the frequency of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing would permanently keep Ghana on a yellow card and potentially send the country to a red card.
According to him, he does not believe that stakeholders have deeply digested the issue to understand its implication; therefore, it was important to properly look at the issue before its implementation.
GNA
Christian Akorlie