THE PAIR TRAWLING PALAVER (WED, MARCH 18)

THE Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has again reiterated its desire to clamp down on pair trawling in our territorial waters.
The Director of Fisheries at MoFA, Mr Alfred Tetebo, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the ministry would not renew the licences of pair trawlers in the country, explaining that “any trawler caught in pair trawling will be engaging in an illegality”.
Last year, the practice of pair trawling in the country’s territorial waters became a big issue, particularly during the electioneering.
The then government took pains to explain the genesis of the practice and what it had done to end it, including the acquisition of two speed boats for the Ghana Navy.
It is instructive to note that Mr Tetebo revealed that pair trawling was initially for small canoes and vessels but that the bigger trawlers also joined in, thereby depleting marine resources.
Fishermen along the coast were among those who raised the red flag that the activities of pair trawlers were throwing them out of business.
They were particularly worried that when pair trawling was at its peak in the country’s waters, the price of fuel products, including premix, also shot up through the roof and it became a costly venture to go fishing.
Indeed, the fishermen and those who voiced out their protests against pair trawling did not do so out of their dislike for the government but because the practice posed a major challenge to the fishing industry.
But for some interventions by the then Ministry of Fisheries, the fishing industry would have collapsed by now.
It was not only the fishermen who bore the brunt of the activities of pair trawling; the practice also seriously affected the availability of fish in homes and at restaurants.
During the fishing season last year, for instance, the effects of pair trawling was very biting because the normal bumper harvest was missing, as the stock of herrings in our territorial waters had been depleted.
But the Daily Graphic wants to caution that the ban on pair trawling alone will not restore the fishing industry to its past glory, if other logistics are not provided for our fisher folk.
Thankfully, the NDC government has adjusted the price of premix fuel downwards and already some fishermen have expressed optimism that the gesture will help them to make more income from their operations.
They, however, spoke about the high cost of other inputs and fishing gear, such as nets and outboard motors.
However, while the government takes steps to address the concerns, the fishermen also have a responsibility to put a stop to some of their bad practices, such as the use of light, dynamite and other poisonous chemicals during their fishing expeditions.
The fishing industry plays an important role in the economic development of any society, particularly in the maintenance of a balanced diet in our homes.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, encourages the government to do all that it can to increase productivity among our fisher-folk in particular and the fishing industry in general by taking steps to eliminate the bottlenecks hindering growth in the sector.
Let it not be said again by our fisher folk that the pledge by the authorities to eliminate pair trawling is doublespeak. The fishermen will have hope, only if real action is taken by the authorities to address the challenges.