2022 National Best Fisherman campaigns against sea pollution
The 2022 National Best Fisherman, Alex Cudjoe, is waging war against marine pollution. He is particularly campaigning against single-use plastics, especially in fishing communities.
Mr Cudjoe has, therefore, called on all fishers and other stakeholders to collaborate in efforts aimed at keeping Ghana's ocean free from plastics.
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"Fishers themselves have an important role to play in managing ocean litter because that is where we earn our livelihood. We must not litter and pollute the sea and we must not allow others to pollute it too," he said.
Pollution of the sea, he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic, had been ongoing because it was believed the ocean was effectively infinite and could absorb anything thrown at it, and so fishers habitually threw waste overboard while waste from other communities were also washed into the sea.
"These old ideas have to change. We are seeing the consequences now. Instead of fish, our nets bring up plastics, wood, wire and old fishing gear, sometimes causing our nets to tear. Plastic pollution can float in the ocean for years, trapping marine life and killing the fish we need.
"Now, fishers must not only avoid discarding waste in the ocean, but also help retrieve what is already there," he said.
Campaign
The campaign for the ocean, apart from limiting pollution, Mr Cudjoe said, would also cover stopping overfishing, preserving habitat and protecting wildlife.
Giving details about the campaign, he said he would work with previous national best fishermen to organise sensitisation programmes that would explain to people the environmental harm derived from single-use plastics and disposing waste in the sea.
In recent years, fishermen in their fishing expedition have ended up catching and bringing tonnes of ocean litter onto the shores.
"Our nets catch waste and when you visit the fishing communities, you will find heaps of plastics in an embarrassing reminder of where our waste ends up," he said.
Mr Cudjoe said he would respond to the ocean pollution menace by collaborating with some non-governmental organisations and state institutions to organise beach clean-up events for locals. "After all, we have all contributed to ocean litter," he said.
The campaign, the 2022 national best fisherman said, would recognise the role of small-scale fishers in a sustainable ocean environment and also advocate policies to support and safeguard their livelihoods.
Illegal fishing
Mr Cudjoe urged fishers to desist from engaging in all forms of illegal fishing activities such as the use of dynamite and other chemicals, monofilament net and light for fishing.
That way, he said, they would continue to support their critical contribution to the global seafood system and food security and save the fishing sector from collapsing.
He called on artisanal fishers to comply with the closed season to help replenish the fish stock, adding that artisanal fishers played a key role in Ghana’s economy and food value chain.
“It has been said over and over that Ghana’s fisheries resources are over-exploited and a number of management measures are being rolled out to ensure recovery of fish stocks.
"There is an ongoing national campaign against illegal and unregulated fishing practices such as transhipment at sea, popularly called “saiko”, and the closed season exercise is one of the measures instituted to replenish the fish stock by avoiding over-exploitation of fisheries resources.
“All we have to do is comply and collaborate as stakeholders,” he added.
He said he would also mobilise clean-up efforts with the support of local assemblies, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and other local groups that would see fishers in fishing communities along the ocean collecting litter.
The man, who said he had been fishing since he completed school in 1982 at age 16 as a labourer in his father's boat, later worked with other fishers before finally buying his first canoe with his savings and a loan from a bank.
Fishing, he said, had been very beneficial to him as he had been able to build his house and see all his five children - two females and three males - through their tertiary education, with one currently schooling in the United Kingdom.
Apart from fishing, he is also into the cultivation of cocoa, rubber and plantain and he is also a livestock farmer with cows, goats and pigs.
Mr Cudjoe mentioned that the major challenge of fishermen was the high cost of the fuel used for powering outboard motors for fishing.
"We spend so much on fuel now but we cannot blame the government even though the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has been helping.
“Currently, we do not have the boats from high seas coming to fish within the parameters reserved for inshore fishers," he said.
Mr Cudjoe said he would also advocate the reintroduction of a Ghana Education Service and Ministry of Fisheries collaboration project, where boats were used to teach the youth and students in fishing communities about basic fishing skills.
He said he would also advocate alternative livelihoods for fishers, especially during the closed season and lean seasons.
"The fish stock is dwindling and we need alternative livelihoods to sustain us," he said.
He commended the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture for fighting illegal fishing, saying, "We are seeing the benefits. The sector is being restored. We are now seeing fishes that we did not use to catch about 10 years ago."
The national best fisherman, who now owns 19 canoes, urged the youth to venture into fishing which he described as very lucrative.