Tema-Ghana, Dec. 25, GNA – The Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa (CEMLAWS) has called for an inquiry into the disappearance of Mr Samuel Abayitey, a fisheries observer onboard a tuna vessel Marine 707.
CEMLAWS, in a communication available to the Ghana News Agency indicated that in November, news broke out of the disappearance of Mr Abayitey, who was onboard the tuna vessel Marine 707.
It said there was no information from either the vessel owners or crew as to the circumstances, leading to his disappearance, noting that “the Fisheries Commission (FC) and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MoFAD) did not also know what happened to the fisheries observer.”
This brings to two the number of fisheries observers on board fishing vessels disappearing with the first one being Mr Emmanuel Essien, who similarly disappeared while on board Chinese trawler Meng Xin 15 in July 2019.
CEMLAWS Africa stated that the second disappearance of an observer urgently required an inquiry into the disappearances of the two observers, adding that all the angles and possibilities must be explored in detail.
“These disappearances could be due to homicide, inadequate security, or
lack of basic safety requirements on board the vessels. Unlike Essien, who may have witnessed the commission of a fishery offence, to draw a conspiracy theory for his disappearance, there is little that is known about Mr Abayitey,” it added.
It indicated that several questions lingered and that the State, had a responsibility to ensure the safety of Observers at sea and to protect them from danger.
It was noted that the disappearance of a second fisheries observer was a significant concern for the fisheries management and law enforcement because of the roles and functions of these Observers.
Section 100 of the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625), mandated fisheries observers to embark on seagoing or outbound fishing vessels to collect catch, key data, and samples of fish for scientific purposes, and report on fisheries violations on fishing vessels.
It added for such Observers who were known public officials by law, on board a fishing vessel to perform these functions, to go missing in course of their duty, gave great cause for worry, threating to curtail the country’s capability to perform these functions.
The CEMLAWS Africa document noted that Observers embodied the “eyes of the state” at sea, to ensure that the right things were done.
