The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson has said the alternative livelihood programme rolled out by her outfit to cushion fishers during the close season will be upscaled to cover over 8,000 fishers this year.
The alternative programme apart from directly supplying all affected persons along the entire value chain of the industry with household support, would also introduced them to other economic activities.
The alternative livelihood included; training in masonry, carpentry, dressmaking, hairdressing, electronics and auto engineering.
Mrs Koomson disclosed this in Accra yesterday when she took her turn at the bi-weekly Minister’s Briefing organised by the Ministry of Information.
This closed season is scheduled between July 1 and August 31, 2023.
The artisanal and inshore fleets would observe theirs from July 1 to July 3 while that of industrial trawl vessels would have theirs from July 1 to August 31.
Mrs Koomson said all the necessary consultations with all stakeholders in the fishery industry had been done before the announcement.
She said the closed season was introduced as a recovery strategy to restock the country’s depleting stocks and the strategy was based on scientific recommendations.
She explained that the closed season had been implemented since 2017 with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mrs Koomson indicated that during the 2022 closed season, the ministry distributed 20,000 25kg bags of rice and 8,333 cartons of cooking oil to support fishers during the closure in order to mitigate the impact of the closed season on fishers and processors.
“The ministry also supported fishers with 6,000 bundles of wire mesh, 20,000 basins, 1,710 chest Freezers and 1,150 subsidised outboard motors,” she added.
The minister further disclosed that the ministry and its partners, including the Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity had launched alternative livelihood training support for fishers starting with 550 fishers in masonry, carpentry, dressmaking, hairdressing, electronics and auto engineering, among other things, in selected communities along the coast.
“This training would be scaled up to cover 8,000 fishers and after the training, trainees would be supported to set up to ensure that they can earn incomes from their trade,” she noted.
Mrs Koomson said an Electronic Monitoring System equipped with a video recorder, a camera, and a Global Positioning System would be fixed on three pilot trawl vessels to record fishing activities at sea 24 hours, seven days in a week as part of measures to combat illegal fishing in our waters.
“Also, there will be an implementation of ministerial directives on trawl gear specifications to reduce the catch of juvenile fishes and bycatches, as well as directives requiring trawl vessels to stay at sea for no more than 30 days for any fishing expedition,” she added.
Meanwhile, the minister has notified that La Cote d’Ivoire would be implementing its 2023 closed season at the same period with Ghana.
However, Togo, Benin, and Liberia were expected to join next year, she added
BY CLIFF EKUFUL