Accra-Ghana, Aug. 04, GNA – Fishermen at the Sango Landing Beach at Teshie are unable to undertake fishing expeditions three days after the end of the closed fishing season.
This is because premix fuel supply to the Sango Beach is yet to arrive, making it difficult for them to embark on their expeditions.
Nii Adjei Wawadzan, the Chief Fisherman at the beach said only ten out of the 180 canoes had embarked on expeditions since the season ended last Monday.
He said owners of the ten canoes had to buy fuel from outside the shores.
The Chief Fisherman said despite buying fuel at an expensive rate, those who went fishing came with little harvest because they could not sail further than what their fuel could carry them.
Nii Wawadzan, who bemoaned the negative impact of the development on their livelihood, said they were unable to cater for their families because, “we have exhausted all we saved during the closed season” .
“Buying fuel other than the premix that is supplied to us is not sustainable,” he said.
“We have gone a whole month without fishing and any further delay in supplying us premix fuel will further exacerbate our situation,” he added.
The fisher folks appealed for quick intervention, saying their livelihood depended on fishing.
Following the depletion of fish stock in the sea, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in accordance with Section 84 of the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625), instituted the closed fishing season.
The implementation of the closed season, which forms part of a series of strategies to recover fish stock also aims at ensuring sustainable management of fisheries resources.
While canoe and inshore fishers observed the closed season between July 1 and 31, industrial trawlers would observe it from July 1 to August 31.
