Fishermen of the Ghana Inshore Fisheries Association (GIFA) at the Tema Fishing Harbour at the weekend said they expected bumper fish catch during the peak season in August and September.
They do not expect to get high returns because they would be compelled to sell their catch cheaply due to lack of storage facilities, Mr Martin Agboli,
Acting Secretary of the GIFA told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.
Currently, he said, the fishermen who operate about 40 boats popularly called "Legey Legey" return from their fishing expedition with 20 to 40 crates
of herrings and salmon, which they sell at 160,000 cedis a crate.
"From August to September, the peak season, when we would be landing about 200 crates from each expedition, we will be forced to sell a crate of fish, (salmon or herrings) for about 60,000 cedis or 80,000 cedis because private cold storage facilities will refuse to accept them," Mr Agboli said.
The Acting Secretary said the private cold stores at the Fishing Harbour accept fish packed in cartons only but they do not have that facility and put theirs in crates.
To get them out of their plight, Mr Agboli appealed to the government as an interim measure, to install a blast freezer, which freezes fish in an hour so that they could store them in some private cold stores for a fee against the lean season.
During the lean season the fishermen sail as far as to Aflao on expedition and return with only five to 10 crates while in the peak period they fish from Tema to Winneba.
He said during peak season, fishmongers dictate the price of the fish and since they have no alternative "we agree to their prices to our disadvantage, thus making small margins because of the high cost of fuel and fishing gear".
Mr Agboli said the price of diesel, which is supplied by the Bunkering Services directly from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), ice flakes and food for the crew makes the operating cost very high.
Three pieces of herrings and salmon sold at 500 cedis at the fishing harbour at the weekend, while market women at the Tema Central Market sold the same quantity for 2,000 cedis.
Cold store operators explained to the Ghana News Agency that they refuse to accept fish in crates because the fishermen go to sea without freezing facilities and return with fresh fish that takes a long time to freeze, the concomitant high electricity bills and the fact that fish in crates is difficult to pack.
