Save fishing industry - Association calls for strong policy on foreign fishers
The National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) has called for a workable national policy to address the foreign domination of the country’s fishing industry.
The dominance of foreign industrial fishing fleet in the country’s maritime waters, it said, was killing local capacity drive and a way was needed to address the development.
Advertisement
Speaking when the Editor, Graphic, Kobby Asmah, met with members of NAFAG in Tema, the secretary, Richster Amarfio, said: “Ghana needs todo more to protect the sector and local players, instead of making it more lucrative for foreigners.”
Mr Asmah was in Tema as part of an official tour of the country to interact with stakeholders of the Graphic Communications Group Limited(GCGL) on strengthening cooperation for mutual benefits.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that over two million Ghanaians, many of them artisanal fishers, are dependent on fisheries for their livelihoods.
“While the trawl sector is hugely dominated by Chinese who mostly support their Ghanaian counterparts with the procurement of fishing vessels under a hire-purchase agreement, the tuna sector has a dominant Korean interests under a joint-venture partner ship arrangement,” Mr Amarfio said.
“The hire-purchase agreements thus allow for the foreigners to serve as high-ranking officers on these vessels, in line with the conditionalities associated with the funding arrangements, making the foreigners the beneficial owners,” he added.
The situation, he indicated, had resulted in the government exploiting the presence of foreigners to peg higher fees for the licensing regime, further compounding the challenges the sector faced.
Best practice
Citing Morocco as an example, the NAFAG Secretary said the North African country had in place a national policy that had reduced the Chinese dominance in its fisheries industry, leading to the development of internal capacity through the establishment of fisheries schools, as well as a robust financial sector that funded the industry.
Other Trending Stories
“Ghana, after the collapse of Mankoadze Fisheries, no longer trains fishermen at our premier maritime training institute; as such, the trawl sector has to depend heavily on the Chinese who have such capacity,” he said.
Dependence
Mr Amarfio said the country had one of the highest rates of dependence on fish for nutrition in Africa.
Providing data, he said the March2022 report of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture indicated that in 2021, the country imported nearly $290million seafood and fish products, a marginal increase of less than one percent over the preceding year’s value of$288 million.
The report further said growth in import demand was expected to continue as the economy revived to the pre-pandemic growth pattern as the population increased, and local fish production stagnated.
The law
Ghana has a law - the Fisheries Act,2002 - which spells out how foreign fishing vessels should operate in the country’s waters.
Section 61 of the act states that a foreign fishing vessel shall not fish or attempt to fish within the fishery waters of the Republic except under a licence issued under the act, or as maybe otherwise authorised under an agreement between the Ghana government and the government of the country in which the fishing vessel is registered or otherwise belongs.
Furthermore, it states that a foreign fishing vessel shall not enter the fishery waters of the Republic unless authorised to do so by the terms of a licence or permit issued to it under the act or under an applicable access agreement in force, or under circumstances recognised by international law.
With regard to sanctions, the act states that where a foreign fishing vessel is used in contravention of the law, the owner, master and charterer of the vessel individually commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of not less than $250,000 and not more than $2 million and, in addition, the catch, fishing gear or any other apparatus or a combination of them used in the commission of the offence shall be forfeited to the Republic.
In spite of the law, the NAFAG Secretary said, the system continued to be exploited by foreign operators, much to the disadvantage of local operators.
While admitting that illegal activities by some of the fishers continued to affect the sector, he, nonetheless, expressed worry at the country’s failure to have a land use plan that allowed fishers to go into farming during the off seasons associated with fishing.
“Within the Tema zone, for example, lands earmarked for agricultural activities have now become complete built-up environments, thereby making fishing an all-year season, until the recent introduction of the closed fishing season,” Mr Amarfio said.
Capacity building
He called for more realistic ways to build the capacity of local fisher folk to create opportunities for more people.
Advertisement
That, he explained, would significantly help address the numerous challenges the sector was saddled with and help in efforts to reduce poverty.
Inadequate financing, Mr Amarfio explained, continued to be a setback to the sector, a situation that had prompted many players to consider diversifying into other areas, such as import and commerce.
“If we are able to get a financial sector that is committed to supporting industrial fishing, we will impact economic growth and improve livelihoods within the fisheries value chain,” he said.
Not enough attention
Mr Asmah, in his remarks, expressed regret that the media had not thrown much light on the fisheries sector, pointing out that when supported, the sector could play a great role in the country’s developmental agenda.
Advertisement
He advocated a strong partnership between the fisheries sector and the media, so that stories could be better told.
“I would want you and your team to tease out some thematic areas, engage and sensitise people as a way of winning some support and enhancing advocacy for the sector,” he said.
He noted that a well-nursed fishing sector could do a lot more for the progress of the country, as it would not only provide additional revenue but also ensure job creation.
The Editor described as worrying the way the country, deemed to be a hub for agriculture and fishing activities, had no training regime to train its own personnel to operate fishing vessels.
Advertisement
“I think it is time policy review stook into cognisance the need to remodel our training regime to matchup with new developments in the global industry,” he said.