Fishermen at the Korle Gonno beach in Accra
• Fisherfolk say they face hardship during the closed season
• Mr Konadu from CODA has charged fishermen to save monies ahead of the closed season
• According to him, the ban on fishing is necessary
Fisherfolk in Ghana have for years, lamented the hardship they face during the closed season when there is a ban on both artisanal and industrial fishing in the country.
Team lead for Clean Beach at the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), Micheal Konadu, has admonished fisherfolk to save towards the period, knowing that out of the entire year, the sea will be closed for a month to allow fish to lay their eggs to replace the lost population.
Mr Konadu in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb on the effect of plastic waste in our sea, touched on the essence of the closed season which he noted is beneficial to fisherfolk.
“The closing of the sea is a very good thing. It allows the resource to regenerate so ultimately, they (fisherfolk) benefit from it but like all human enterprises, as we work, we save. Know that there are times we will not be able to make income immediately.
“I think people should come to the realization that it is a necessary thing that we allow the fish stock to regenerate during a certain time and as such, they must plan for that time. Whatever they make in the 11 months, they must set something aside knowing that there is going to be 1 month where it won’t happen,” Mr Konadu told Ghana.
Mr. Konadu also added that their outfit has rolled out projects to improve the livelihood of fisherfolk along the coastal area in Ghana.
According to Mr. Konadu: “CODA has done a lot under its IPEP (Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Project). Coastal dwellers indicated what their priorities were and those priorities were taken on board and CODA implemented projects to bring those priorities to life. CODA is engaged in a massive support programme to fisherfolk where we have an outboard motor subsidy programme that fishermen who have need of engines for their boat can come to CODA, and once we identify you are truly a fisherman, there is a massive subsidy, about 50% of the cost of the engine that is given to the fisherfolk as support.”
Meanwhile, fisherfolk have called on the government to roll out programmes that will cushion them during the ban on fishing where they are forced not to go at sea.
A fisherman at the Korle Gonno beach, Nii Teiko told GhanaWeb that they didn’t record a bumper harvest after this year’s closed season.
“We can’t get a lot of fish when we go fishing. We just got four only fishes at sea today due to the closure of the sea. Earlier when there was no closure, we could get a lot of fish to sell. Anytime you come to the sea, you will see fish but now you can’t get any,” he said.