Sekondi fishermen gear up for bumper catch
The government, through the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), has procured 1,000 outboard motors for distribution to fishermen in the country, Mr. Alexander Addo, Western Regional Director of the Fisheries Commission, has said.
She told the GNA in an interview that 350 units of the out boarded motors had been allocated to the Western Region.
He said one out board cost GH¢4, 900.00 and fishermen who wanted to buy one had to pay 50 per cent of the cost outright and Landing Beach Committees have to ensure that remaining 50 per cent are paid within one year.
Mr Addo said there might be a bumper harvest because there was no problem with the supply of premix fuel.
He urged LBCs not to delay in submitting the necessary documents for the supply of their allocation of premix fuel to prevent shortages of the product.
Mr Addo appealed to fishermen not to use fishing nets for fishing to avoid catching fingerlings in order to prevent depletion of the country’s fish stock.
On the use of fishing nets, he said in the past the government was supplying the fishermen with the approved nets but the government discontinued the practice because some fishermen used the nets for other purposes.
Mr Addo said through intensive education the fishermen had understood the harmful effects of using chemicals and lighting for fishing and had pledged to discontinue with the practice.
He advised the fishermen to keep off the oil rig at the Jubilee Oil Field in order not to endanger the machines and said navy personnel were monitoring their activities.
Mr Isaac Patterson, chairman of the Western Regional Co-operative Fishermen Service Centre at Sekondi, said the supply of pre-mix fuel was regular.
He said fishermen who previously resisted registration for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) had now agreed to do so and arrangements are being made to bring in personnel of NHIS to register them and their families.
Mr Patterson said the fishermen refused to register for NHIS due to lack of communication and appealed to authorities to always educate the public on issues extensively before implementation.
Some of the fishermen were however not enthused about the bumper catch because lack of storage facilities normally force them to sell their catch cheaper to prevent them from going bad, therefore appealed for more facilities to store excess catch against the lean season.
Source: GNA