Fishing Ban: No premix for coastal areas

The National Premix Committee Board has said it will cut supply of the product to fishermen at various landing beaches across the country as part of measures to ensure full compliance with the one-month ban on fishing.

Government says the ban is in line with plans to help reduce excessive pressure on Ghana’s depleting fish stock.

Nii Lantey Bannerman, chairman of the National Premix Board, said in an interview that: “The premix fuel is supplied to the whole Ghana for fishing at the coast, especially, but on the lake, it is used for both transportation and fishing. The closed season is affecting only the marine sector, which is the coastal areas but on the lake, we are still going to supply.

“So, we are not going to supply premix to the coastal or marine sector but we will supply premix to the lake region.

“We’ve our coordinators along the coastal areas, so, they are also part of the system to help us monitor that the fishers are still not going to sea and all that.

“Definitely, we’re going to ensure that nobody violates the closed season”, Mr Bannerman added.

The ban takes effect from 7 August 2018. Fishermen along the coast have disagreed with the move. Those at Chorkor in Accra have, however, supported the ban.