Although the fisheries sector contributes significantly to socioeconomic development, the country loses over US$200million annually due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).
At the 2023 Ocean Conference held in Panama recently, Ghana’s fisheries minister Mavis Hawa Koomson indicated that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) is committed to ensuring that 100 percent of industrial vessels licenced to fish in Ghana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) deploy electronic monitoring systems, including the use of cameras to monitor and document activities taking place on vessels.
“We estimate an investment of up to US$2.5million to fulfil this commitment through partnerships between the ministry, industry and development partners,” Madam Koomson stated.
IUU fishing remains one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems in the country, due to its ability to undermine national and regional efforts at conserving and managing fish stocks.
IUU has been contributing to depleting fish stocks, in addition to threatening marine biodiversity, livelihoods, and exacerbating poverty and food insecurity.
Madam Koomson emphasised that the technologies, when put in place, will not only advance transparency but also ensure vessels are fishing in compliance with the law.
Illegal fishing activities like ‘saiko’ attract fines of between US$100,000 and US$2million, or a minimum of US$1million for taking on board juvenile fish, using prohibited fishing gear, or fishing in prohibited zones (e.g. the inshore exclusive zone reserved for artisanal fishers).
Minimum fines can increase to US$4million in the case of repeated offences. These notwithstanding, many offenders are able to find alternatives to beat such punishments. Offenders do not pay the required fines as they find other ways to beat the laws.
Hence, it stands to reason that if MOFAD is committed to fining offending vessels, raising the required US$2.5million to procure the electronic monitoring systems should be easy.
MOFAD should as a matter of course investigate the reasons why offenders find it easy to evade/ignore our laws with impunity. As regulator of the country’s fishing industry, we expect better monitoring of our territorial waters so that illegal fishing activities are curtailed to the barest minimum.
