The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mavis Hawa Koomson has announced effective that effective October 1, 2023, new canoes will not be allowed entry into the marine space in a bid to ensure sustainable fishing practices to restore the ever-dwindling stock.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra today, the Minister underscored that scientific data is pointing to a collapsed Fisheries sector.
The Fisheries Minister said the canoe fleet has increased significantly since 1990 till date resulting in the decreased landing of small pelagic from 119 thousand metric tonnes since 1990 to 20 thousand metric tonnes in 2020.
Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson said the moratorium is one of the key measures to curb the over capacity of the marine sector as existing measures being implemented are not far reaching enough to save the collapsing Fisheries sector which is mainly being caused by the over capacity of the sector where there are too many vessels chasing decreasing fish stock.
She said extensive consultation has been done and no new canoes will be constructed and introduced into the marine waters for the next 3years.
The Minister, however, indicated that it will be reviewed annually.
The President of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council, Nana Joojo Solomon lauded the move to enforce the moratorium since the collapse of the Fisheries sector must not be glossed over lightly, since it will spell national security repercussions due to the large numbers it employs.
