Govt announces May 15 to June 15 as closed season for fishing

Government has announced May 15 to June 15, 2019 as dates for the ban on fishing in the country.

Dubbed “closed season”, the ban is aimed at saving some species of fishes such as mackerel and anchovies which are going into extinction due to poor fishing practices.

Announcing the new dates at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister of Fisheries, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, said the dates were agreed upon after extensive consultation and stakeholder engagements.

She added that August 1 to September 30, 2019 have been agreed on by industrial trawlers to observe the season and further observed that the Tuna sector had their close season from the January 1 to the end of February, 2019.

The ban on fishing was postponed from 2018 to 2019 following concerns expressed by players in the industry.

Although August has been touted as the bumper season, the same period has been described as the perfect time for high food production for fish.

An estimated 13,000 artisanal canoes, 80 Ghanaian flagged trawlers and 300 semi industrial boats are said to be on Ghana’s waters. Although fishing is very high, the catch has been extremely low.