Tema New Town fishermen, navy personnel clash over illegal fishing methods
Irate fishermen yesterday clashed with some navy personnel trying to enforce the ban on light fishing and other unorthodox fishing methods at Tema Newtown.
Advertisement
The fishermen attacked some ratings and pushed them into the sea as they attempted to seize generators and other accessories used in light fishing.
The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, senior naval officers and other opinion leaders in the community, who arrived at the scene following a distress call to them, helped to restore order.
When the Daily Graphic arrived at the scene, calm had been restored and the fishermen and fishmongers were going about their normal activities.
Illegal fishing method
The Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Naval Command, Lt Dela Dornyo, in an interview, said the Ghana Navy Ship, GNS CHEMLE, while on patrol duties, spotted three canoes suspected to be flouting fishing regulations.
Lt Dornyo said the fishermen were ordered by the Navy patrol team to stop and make way for routine checks to ensure they were applying the proper fishing methods. However, the fishermen disregarded the order.
She said as a result, the Navy ship sailed closer and two ratings were dispatched to get on board one of the canoes to carry out the inspection. She said two generator sets were found during the routine check however,some of the fishermen started attacking the navy personnel conducting the search during which they pushed one of them into the sea.
The PRO said the commanding officer of the ship, realising that the fishermen were attacking the naval personnel, dispatched armed soldiers to board the canoe and protect the personnel under attack.
Other Trending Stories
She said the crew managed to escort the fishing canoes ashore and when other fishermen and people ashore realised the soldiers were approaching in their numbers, they started making distress calls which caused some confusion.
Intervention
However, she said the intervention of the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive and other opinion leaders helped to restore calm.
The PRO indicated that a number of generator sets were seized from the fishermen aboard the three canoes.