By: Sarfoa Felicia:
The resort to illegal means of fishing including the use of DDT and light fishing along the coast has become a major problem for most fishermen in the country.
This has compelled a concerned fisherman, Nana Afful Awotwe who is a Chief Fishermen at Gomoa Nyayano in the Central Region to state his position on the unfortunate development of illegal fishing methods among sections of the fishing community along the coast of the Central Region.
According to him, fisherfolks in the region would raise the issue with the president when he touched down in the Central Region for his ‘Accounting to the people tour’ and see how best the issue can be dealt with.
Reacting to the issue on Rite FM’s Akuafo Se Sen on Tuesday, Nana Afful said though the practice was very much rampant in several communities such as Nyanyano, Bibiani, Winneba Senya Bereku, etc, he and his folks at Gomoa Nyanyano have desisted from it and that they were engaged in clean fishing, adding that the resort to illegal fishing methods was unacceptable.
He was however peeved that the effects of the illegal methods of catching fish was taking a toll on he and his colleagues as the light fishing in the night drew the fishes away, leaving them with no catches during the daytime.
According to him, the Aqua Cultural Center of the University of Cape Coast last year held a training workshop for fisherfolks in the region on how best to and the need to safeguard the fishes through good fishing practices. Unfortunately however, some fishermen still indulged in these illegal fishing methods.
Source: ritefmonline.org
