Mr. Osei-Akoto Nyantakyi, Programmes Officer-Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), has stated that Ghana’s fish stocks are declining at an alarming rate and charged the authorities to step up enforcement and ensure effective prosecution of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in the country.
According to EJF, successful prosecution of offenders will serve as a deterrent and help curb the increasing use of destructive and unlawful fishing methods.
Mr. Osei-Akoto Nyantakyi attributed fish stocks declining to a combination of climate change and persistent use of harmful fishing practices such as light fishing, dynamite, carbide and toxic chemicals.
Indeed, weak enforcement and inadequate capacity across the prosecutorial chain are undermining efforts to protect marine resources.
These were highlighted at a multi-agency workshop held in Takoradi recently, which brought together participants from the Ghana Navy, Marine Police Unit, Office of the Attorney-General and Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Division of the Fisheries Commission.
The forum aimed to identify gaps in the enforcement chain, propose legal and operational reforms and foster better coordination among stakeholders.
Participants noted that Ghana’s fisheries enforcement infrastructure is under-resourced, with limited personnel and equipment. For instance, the country is currently divided into only two marine enforcement zones – Eastern and Western – leaving significant gaps in coverage.
Consequently, it was recommended that additional Fisheries Enforcement Units be established in the Central and Volta Regions to improve operational responsiveness.
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing violates conservation and management measures currently in place in many countries.
Global losses due to IUU fishing alone are estimated between US$10billion and US$23.5billion per year with West African waters deemed to have the highest levels of IUU in the world, representing up to 37 percent of the region’s catch (OECD, 2012).
It is projected the country loses over US$200million annually due to IUU fishing, according to data from the Environment and Natural Resource Research Initiative (ENRRI – EfD Ghana).
