By P.K. Yankey, GNA
Dixcove (W/R), Oct. 11, GNA – Friends of the Nation (FoN), an environmental Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has launched a campaign to protect Ghana’s Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ).
The move followed the government’s decision to extend the IEZ for artisanal fishers from six nautical miles to 12 nautical miles.
This came to light at a day’s workshop for stakeholders in the fishing industry at Upper and Lower Dixcove in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region.
The workshop formed part of a project dubbed “Protecting Our Zone, Securing Our Future” aimed at sensitising fishers, fishmongers and other stakeholders on recent developments in the sea.
Mr Mevuta Donkris, the Executive Director of FoN, while thanking the government for allowing artisanal fishers to fish within the 12 nautical miles, stressed the need for fishers to guard against encroachment by pair trawlers with their heavy vessels.
He said fishing expeditions by pair trawlers within the IEZ had the potential to deplete fish stocks by catching small pelagics.
Mr Kenneth Arthur, the Secretary-General of the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG), also welcomed the move by the government, adding that any attempt by Chinese pair trawlers to fish within the IEZ would amount to by-catch which infringed on the law.
He said the Chinese used to encroach on the IEZ when it was six nautical miles and stressed the need for fishers to unite and be vigilant, to ensure that pair trawlers did not cross the boundary now that the government has extended it to 12 nautical miles.
Mr Frank Eshun, an official of the Fisheries Commission in Takoradi who represented the Western Regional Director, said heavy vessels could pass through the 12 nautical miles but could not fish within that zone.
He said pair trawling, like galamsey, was one of the ecologically destructive fishing methods which disrupts marine life.
Mr Eshun said the Commission would continue to sensitise artisanal fishers to jealously protect their boundaries, by reporting pair trawlers fishing within the IEZ to authorities for action.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/ Christabel Addo
11 Oct. 2026
Reporter P. K Yankey