Author: Laudia Sawer

Tema, September 29, GNA – The National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) has urged the government to address the menace of illegal mining, locally known as “galamsey”, to help save the fishing industry.

Mr. Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, Vice President of NAFAG, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that galamsey and other environmental issues have a serious impact on the fisheries sector and therefore need to be addressed.

Mr. Amarfio “There is something fundamentally wrong in our fishing sector that cannot be entirely attributed to IUU. Solve the problem of galamsey and its impact on the fishing sector because there is a link between inland waters and the ocean.”

He added that it was important for regulators to look at environmental factors, such as galamsey, that contribute to the depletion of fish stocks, and stressed that the country’s loss of essential habitats means loss of fisheries.

“First of all, inland water bodies themselves are habitats for fish; contribute to meeting our demand for fisheries, so when we destroy our inland water bodies, it puts unnecessary pressure on marine fisheries,” said the NAFAG Vice-President.

He further explained that galamsey and other bad environmental practices destroy the coastline that serves as spawning grounds for fish, stressing that destroying mangroves, blackish water and estuaries means destroying hatcheries and spawning grounds.

Mr. Amarfio further noted that upstream streams from highly polluted water bodies such as Pra and Ankobra are spilling into the sea near mangrove forests and estuaries, creating an urgent need to address the galamsey problem.

“It destroys fishing habitats because you are putting toxic substances into the water, thus destroying the fish itself; they will move away from the shore into deeper waters,” he added.

He explained that juveniles laid by fish often move close to shore to avoid predators; therefore, destroying the coasts would make it more difficult because they will die out.

He said other environmental challenges that need to be addressed to save the fisheries sector include the redesign of domestic and industrial waste as all sewage systems in Ghana are connected to water bodies that discharge into the sea, leading to accumulation of more waste in water reservoirs.

He lamented the amount of plastic waste ending up in the ocean, lamenting that fishermen go out to sea and come back catching more plastic waste than fish and have to manually select fish from the garbage.

Mr Amarfio said: “We need to start thinking about how to rebuild our fisheries; you can only think about rebuilding fisheries when you deal with environmental problems. It is high time we moved away from a fisher-centric approach of restoring fish stocks to environmental stewardship.”

He suggested that artificial reefs could also be created, as the United States recently strategically did by sinking a passenger ship into the ocean to create a reef that would serve as a spawning ground for fish to replenish the stock.

He further said that spawning areas such as mangroves and estuaries may also be closed to fishing to protect the development of young fish.

GNA