By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Oct. 24, GNA -The United Nations Global Compact Network, with support from the Lloyds Register Foundation, has held its second Ocean Centres Ghana workshop, bringing together stakeholders to deliberate on the safety and sustainability of the ocean.
The workshop was held on the theme: “Ensuring an Effective Regulatory Framework for Safety and Sustainability in Marine Capture Fisheries.”
Nana Boakye Boampong, the Ocean Centres Country Lead, said the centres were platforms which brought together stakeholders to formulate workable solutions, examine regulatory frameworks, and identify gaps, while strengthening coordination among ocean stakeholders.
He said it was important that legal and regulatory instruments were not only ratified but also effectively implemented to positively impact the fishers through safer work and better pay, among others.
He said activities in the ocean and seabed, such as shipping, offshore activities, and tourism, coupled with maritime accidents, spillages, and pollution, had led to issues of safety and sustainability and the adoption of several international instruments.
Nana Boampong said it was therefore important to bring all stakeholders, made up of policymakers, public agencies, industry leaders, academia, and other maritime stakeholders, together to come up with localised solutions to the issues identified.
He said some of the identified issues were the need for safety and sustainability for shipping and transport use, knowledge and technological gaps in the maritime sector, and climate change issues, emphasising that blue finance was another challenge, as there was not enough financing for the sector in the African region.
Dr Godfred Ameyaw Asiedu, the Regional Coordinator for Anglophone Africa, Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), in a presentation mentioned that current sustainability measures included legal and institutional reorganisation, closed seasons, marine protected areas, marine spatial planning, canoe registration and licensing.
There were also electronic monitoring systems, fishing gear restrictions, ministerial directives on the use of trawl gears, and fisheries’ co-management committees, among others, he said.
Dr Asiedu said safety issues at sea included sufficient working and living space onboard vessels, maintenance of vessels, steering and fuel systems, safety equipment and fire safety, among others.
Additionally, personal safety issues for crews included the use of proper footwear, wearing gloves, lifting weights, sitting on railings, and standing under hanging loads, among others.
He said existing safety measures in the maritime sector in Ghana covered safety checks, inspection and clearance, training and certification of fishers, training of fisheries observers, mandatory first aid training for fishers to reduce fatalities and improve emergency responses, among others.
He added that to ensure an effective regulatory framework, there was the need for constant review and update of the regulatory framework, capacity strengthening for regulatory institutions, institutional collaboration and partnerships, increased enforcement and voluntary compliance, and many more.
Participants during a panel discussion said Ghana has enough laws to govern the ocean, pointing out that the greatest challenge was effective implementation, which they agreed could be improved with the use of technology and the commitment from all stakeholders.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo