The Technical Committee of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture has disclosed that, Ghana loses US$50 million annually in terms of revenue from the illegal fishing.
Mr Kofi Agbogah, a member of The Technical Committee of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture is by this disclosure calling for an immediate end to ‘Saiko’, an illegal fishing method in practice mostly by the Chinese in Elmina, so as to prevent lose of revenue as well as the shortage of fish in the country.
He adds that if illegal fishing is allowed to continue, the country will be hit with a serious shortage of fish which will take about 40 years to resolve.
Fisheries sector contribution to GDP
Speaking on ‘Upfront’ on the Joy News channel, Mr Agbogah adds that the situations is dire to the extent that it is affecting the growth of the fisheries sector in the country.
However, he added, growth in the sector has been declining over the years, adding that the sector now contributes to between one to 0.9 per cent to GDP.
“In 1998/99 to 2000, Ghana was self-sufficient in our fish harvest. Today we are importing greater than 60 per cent of the fish that we eat”, he said.
Saiko fishing
Saiko, a Transhipment, is an illegal mode of fishing where trawlers stay put on the sea, catch fish meant for small-scale fishermen and sell them to cannon fishermen out at sea.
This practice is very pervasive on the Elmina fishing harbour, in the central Region of Ghana.
However, the laws of Ghana abhor such mode of fishing on its waters.
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Nontheless, Mr Agbogah maintains that Saiko is a serious threat which must be tackled head-on.
He says the amount of fish in one Saiko boat is equal to 450 trips of an ordinary canoe fishermen going to sea.
This means that an ordinary fisherman will have go on fishing trips 450 times to match a that of a single Saiko boat.
Mr Agbogah further added that many people in Ghana depend heavily on the fisheries sector for their nutritional value and so the Ministry must ensure that activities of Saiko is controlled.
“It is something that adds to the nutrition of the nation. When we lose it then we are losing our nutritional security, we are also losing our food security and it will affect national security”, he warned.
