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Illegal Fishing: Gov’t will not ban Saiko any time soon, says Deputy Fisheries Minister.

March 05, 2020

The Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mr Francis Ato Cudjoe, says Government will not ban ‘Saiko’, an Illegal Fishing activity, on its waters, any time soon. This is because doing so will pose economic and social problems for the country.

He explains the Saiko trade benefit the Fisher folks in the
various fishing communities across the country’s coastal lines and for that
matter banning it will affect the livelihoods of many households.

Implications on the people

“This business has emerged and our people are benefiting from it. Now whenever you’re coming out with a policy or a measure, you have to look at the total implication of this policy. That is the economic and social implications for the people”, he said.

He adds that the trade had become so popular among the fishermen and women in the country to the extent that banning it outrightly will course a lot of problems for the Government.

In recognition of this fact, what Government intends doing, he said, is to stop the illegal aspect of the trade. Which is the transshipment, that is the large scale Saiko trade.

“So for us as Government, we are saying that we are not
abolishing Saiko any time soon….what we are saying is that we are going to
regulate it”, he explained.

Mr Cudjoe was speaking on the ‘Upfront’ show on the Joy News Channel on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

The substantive Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, is reported
earlier to have promised some fisher folks in Elmina that the New Patriotic Party
will never abolish the Saiko trade.

So, the Deputy Minister’s comments on the matter is to just to
reiterate his boss’ statement.

Ghana losing US$50 annually

Last week, Mr Kofi Agbogah, a member of the Technical Committee of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, on the same show, disclosed that Ghana was losing some US$50 million annually due to the activities of illegal fishing.

He, consequently, called for an immediate end to the trade,
adding that the country will be hit with a serious shortage of fish which will take
about 40 years to resolve, should the menace continue.

Saiko fishing

Saiko, a Transshipment, 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.

What the law says

For instance, section 132 of the Act 625 (Act 2000) clearly states
how fishing vessels should operate on the country’s fishing waters.

“Unless authorised in writing by the commission [fisheries
commission], no fishing vessel shall be used for transshipment of fish in the fishery
waters without the supervision of an authorised officer or under such arrangement
or condition as may be approved in advance by the commission”.

What this means is that one needs prior authorisation before
moving fish from one vessel to the other.

In addition to this, section 52, 53 and 55 of the same Act says that nobody can go on the waters to fish without license.

Ghana Talks Business

The post Illegal Fishing: Gov’t will not ban Saiko any time soon, says Deputy Fisheries Minister. appeared first on Ghana Talks Business.

Ghana Talks Business

Source : African Media Agency (AMA)

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