Inland fisheries sector is being threatened by illegal mining activities – Council

President of the National Inland Canoe Fishermen Council, Jacob Kabori Tetteh Ageke, has disclosed to the media that the inland fisheries sector is being threatened by illegal mining activities.

Mr. Tettey Ageke warns of imminent fish stock declines if the situation is not addressed.

He lamented that fishermen on the Black Volta in the Savannah Region are being chased away by illegal miners.

He disclosed this to journalists on the sidelines of a stakeholder meeting in Kumasi to review the new Fisheries Act.

He said all efforts deployed to stop the activities of the illegal miners have proved futile.

“Some of the illegal miners are using weapons to make sure our people move out of the communities or around the Black Volta, the places where they mine, that is, the Savannah and Banda areas. We are appealing to the authorities to make sure that the illegal miners leave for us to fish,” he said.

“The illegal mining is affecting us greatly. Because the Volta Lake is big, you don’t really see the increasing turbidity. Seriously, on the Black Volta all the way from the Savannah Region on the Bui Lake to the Dam site to Bamboi to Buipe, the water has changed.”

“From the Eastern Region, all the water bodies enter the Afram and ultimately into the Volta Lake. The fishes die in these water bodies before they enter the main lake so the fish population is declining,” he added.