By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, March 31, GNA – Former President John Dramani Mahama says the next National Democratic Congress (NDC)-led government will implement a ‘closed season’ for only industrial fishing trawlers as part of a multifaceted intervention to revamp the fisheries sector.
He said the increasing number of industrial fishing vessels and their illegal fishing practices on Ghana’s territorial waters had greatly contributed to the depletion of marine stocks.
Accordingly, “artisanal fishers would be allowed to operate during the closed season to support their livelihoods,” he said.
Hence “when the NDC takes over the reins of government, the law on closed season will not affect small-scale fishermen who use canoes. It is the big trawlers that will not be allowed to fish during the closed season,” he added.
Former President Mahama made the promise when he addressed scores of party delegates and supporters from the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem and Cape Coast as part of his three-day tour of the Central Region in Cape Coast.
“The canoe fishermen are not the ones destroying the sea but the heavy industrial trawlers who fish beyond their nautical miles amidst all forms of illegal fishing practices,” the former President noted.
The former President, in the company of some party stalwarts, also paid a visit to the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Mfantseman, and Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese areas.
The term “closed season” also known as “biological rest period,” refers to the suspension of fishing activities during the spawning period of fish stocks.
Closed seasons are observed as a way of reducing the fishing expedition pressure on stocks when they are most productive and giving the fishes a chance to lay their eggs to replace the lost population due to excessive fishing and other natural causes.
Former President also pledged to streamline the fishing sector in terms of the handling of premix fuel, fishing nets and outboard motors to benefit fishermen and other stakeholders in the industry.
For effective monitoring and protection of marine resources, he said, the Ghana Navy and the Marine Police would be resourced and supported to be ready and alert to counter all other forms of illegal, unreported, and unregulated practices.
Professor Richard Kofi Asiedu, the Regional Chairman of the party, added his voice to the call on the delegates to vote for the former President to lead the party into victory in the Elections 2024.
GNA