Re: The 2016 presidential campaign and pair trawling

Daily Graphic Opinion Jun - 15 - 2016 , 14:59

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development’s (MOFAD) attention has been drawn to an article titled: “The 2016 Presidential Campaign and Pair Trawling,” that was published on page 10 of the May 30, 2016 issue of the Daily Graphic and wishes to correct the impression that pair trawling is allowed in Ghanaian fishing waters and also address some of the issues raised in the said article.

The May 6, 2016 issue of the Daily Graphic published a press release issued by the ministry informing the general public that there has been a ban on pair trawling in Ghana since January 2009.

The Ministry states that Regulation 11(1d) of the Fisheries Regulations, 2010 (L. I. 1968) prohibits any person from engaging in pair trawling in the fishery waters of Ghana. Any person who contravenes Regulation 11 (1d) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than US$250,000.00 and not more than US$2 million.

The ministry wishes to assure the general public that measures have been put in place to ensure that no fishing trawler engages in pair trawling in Ghanaian waters. The Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU) of the ministry has fitted all fishing trawlers with vessel monitoring devices which are connected to the Fisheries Control Centre of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in Tema. The VMS enables the Fisheries Enforcement Unit to monitor the activities of all fishing trawlers at sea. The fitting of the vessel monitoring device on a fishing trawler is a condition for licensing or renewal of fishing licence of a fishing trawler. Section 76 (2n) of the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625) empowers the ministry to suspend or cancel the fishing licence of any fishing trawler whose vessel-monitoring device fails to work.

The said article also creates the impression that foreign trawlers are operating in Ghanaian waters. The ministry wishes to inform the general public that section 50 (1) of the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625) has made provision for Ghanaian fishing companies to employ foreigners on their fishing vessels. However, they should not be more than 25 per cent of the crew on board the vessel. Thus, seeing a foreigner on board a Ghana flagged fishing vessel does not mean the vessel is a foreign vessel.

The ministry took up the challenge associated with the pre-identification by the EU and addressed all the issues raised by the EU including the enactment of Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 2014 (Act 880) and Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 (L.I.2217), development of fisheries management plan and strengthening monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing activities of our vessels. The ministry was happy to state on October 1, 2015, that the EU removed the pre-identification tag as a result of the EU being satisfied with measures put in place by the ministry to address IUU fishing in the country.

The ministry further wishes to state that Anchovy or “Keta Schoolboys” that are caught by the canoe fishermen are not fingerlings but rather adult fishes. Regulation 14 (1) of the Fisheries Regulations, 2010 (L.I. 1968) has listed the minimum sizes of fishes to be landed. In addition, Regulation 12 of the Fisheries Regulations, 2010 (L.I. 1968) has listed the minimum sizes of net for the different fishing gears. All these measures have been put in place to ensure that juvenile fishes are not caught during fishing operations.

Recently, the ministry issued a Ministerial Directive effective September 1, 2015, that made it an offence for fishing trawlers to engage in mid-water trawling. The essence of the ministerial directive is to prevent fishing trawlers from catching the small pelagic fishes (sardinellas, mackerels, anchovy etc.) which are reserved for the artisanal fishermen.