27-07-2010
Ghana: Gov't Urged to Pay More Attention to Fishing Industry

The National Chairman of the Lake Region Fishermen Association, Mr. Castro Mediale has appealed to the government to make conscious effort at revamping fishing activities, particularly in the inland sector.

Mr. Mediale noted that when harnessed, the numerous potentials in the fishing industry could provide the fish needs of the country and reduce the practice of importing fish products into the country. He added that the country had the human resources needed in the fishing industry and that with effective programme and assistance, the industry would bring positive development to the nation.

The Chairman, who was speaking to the media, after a tour of fishing communities at Agordeke in the Afram plains district of the Eastern Region, disclosed that the Executives of the Association had identified great potentials in the inland fishing sector at all the places visited, including Yeji, Ekyi-Amanfrom and Bruben, which lacks structured programmes by the government to assist fishermen as the major problem.

Mr. Mediale said one main concern expressed by the fishermen was that apart from premix fuel being made available for fishermen to purchase, there was no other major support given them. He further noted that a study that was jointly undertaken by his outfit and another Non Governmental Organization, All Africa Farmers Network showed that non availability of data on positive and negative developments in the inland fishing sector did not help in exposing difficulties that fishermen face in the discharge of their duties.

He explained that oral accounts from fishermen on deaths associated with fishing on the Volta Lake, rivers and other water bodies in the inland sector of the country, suggested that such deaths might be higher than those recorded through road accidents, which he stressed called for governmental initiatives to reverse the trend.

The National Chairman of the Lake Region Fishermen Association said hundreds of fishermen died and were quietly buried, without any records on such deaths, because of the fear of reporting such cases to the police, which normally involved some sort of expenses and frustrations, hence families secretly bury their dead relations without any records.

Mr. Mediale pointed out that the Association was putting in place measures that would help improve record keeping on activities of fishermen, noting that even though his outfit was coordinating activities with the All Africa Farmers Network, the role of the government to intervene and give the necessary assistance still remained paramount in the fishing industry.

He said as the Association was collaborating with the All Africa Network, they would adopt strategies at their level and see how best these two organizations could help in supporting the activities of fishermen, noting that government's assistance to fishermen at all level would be much appreciated by all.

The General Secretary of All Africa Farmers Network, Mr. John Benson Akwetey said the problems identified cannot be addressed by the state alone, and thus called for collaboration between the state and the private sector to help in addressing the numerous difficulties that confront inland fishing activities in the country.

Mr. Akwetey pointed out that the feasibility studies conducted by his outfit and the Lake Region Fishermen Association had exposed the realities on the ground, saying the problems need to be tackled holistically, in order to ensure accelerated development and growth of the fishing sector in the country.

Mr. Akwetey observed that Africa countries were striving hard to ensure that they improve upon the living standards of the people.

He said apart from the problems facing the core business of fishing and farming in the communities visited in the country, it became clear that people in these communities lacked the basic social amenities such access to potable drinking water and electricity which was making life more difficult for them.

The General Secretary of the All Africa Farmers Network pointed out that the people in most of the fishing communities also have no access to health facilities, as well as poor infrastructure in schools which compels the people to travel long distances to seek health care, while the poor structures in the schools made it unattractive to children.

Mr. Akwetey noted that the poor conditions in the rural communities have resulted in a situation where most of the youth migrate to the cities, with the aim of securing non existing jobs and have access to these available social amenities.

Some of the fishermen who spoke to Volta File expressed concern about the irregular supply of premix fuel to them, a development which they said was gradually affecting their businesses saying when the premix got finished; it sometimes took weeks before they would be supplied.

The fishermen said they equally found it difficult getting access to timber for the manufacture of canoes and boats for their activities, and said they had to travel long distances to purchase them at a high prices, and therefore appealed to government to help facilitate easy access of timber for their activities.

By Samuel Agbewode

© All Africa

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201007280768.html