Ministry sets up division for fish safety
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aqua Culture has set up a Fisheries Inspectorate Division to inspect and instantly test all fish landed at the country’s 20 landing beaches to ensure fish safety.
The test, which is expected to start by July, 2013, will be done in collaboration with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) for effective implementation.
It is to guard against the use of chemicals like DDT, carbides and explosives, including dynamites in fishing.
Recent reports allege the use of formalin and other dangerous chemicals for the preservation of fish by some fishermen.
The Deputy Minister for the Fisheries and Aqua Culture Ministry, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, who made reference to the use of chemicals in fishing, made this known at a forum organised by the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) in Tema to educate fishermen on some of the negative pratices of fishermen.
The NAFAG is an umbrella body of the Inshore Fisheries, Ghana Tuna, Ghana Trawlers and Ghana Canoe Fishermen Council spread along the coastal areas of Ghana.
Mr Quansah explained that the inspectorate team would conduct instant testing to check the presence of any chemicals in the fish before being discharged.
He called on the fishermen to co-operate to ensure that the work of the officials was not made difficult.
Mr Quansah explained that the officials would take only samples of the landed fish and not a booty.
He also announced that boats used in the transshipment of fish would cease to benefit from the sale of premix oil at the landing beaches .
Mr Quansah explained that boats involved in the transshipment, popularly known as ‘saiko’, did not go to fish but only collected the premix for sale and rather went to sea to buy fish from bigger vessels which were not entitled to catch certain species of fish and, therefore, could not land them at the beach.
He said every vessel had what type of fish it had to catch and yet, some bigger vessels expected to fish from the high seas trawled along the coast and after catching local fish, sold them to the ‘saiko ‘ group, who under the pretence of returning from fishing, landed the transshipped fish.
He noted that those involved would not be spared because they were saboteurs and nation wreckers who would want to make profits at the expense of law abiding ones.
He stated the intention of the fisheries ministry to sanitise the industry by ensuring strict implementation of the Fisheries Law.
The Naval Commander of the Eastern Naval Command, Commodore Steve Darbo, disclosed that the navy was collaborating with the Monitoring Control and Surveillance Unit of the Fisheries Unit to identify those who went against the law and went to sea with generators, cables and lights as well as explosives to endanger resources in the sea and even themselves as fishermen.
According to him, the Ghana Air Force now had a maritime patrol aircraft which also undertook monitoring to ensure safety on the sea.
Naval Commander Darbo appealed for the support of the fishermen to enable the aavy to protect the sovereignty of the coastline of the country.
The National President of the NAFAG, Flt Lt Tackie (retd), disclosed that 70 per cent of the 12,000 canoe fishermen who were members of the association engaged in the use of light and cautioned them to desist from the practice.
Flt Lt Tackie urged them to ensure good sanitation practices at the beaches where they landed their fish.
He said the new system of instantly testing fish at landing points would help to prevent the use of chemicals which tarnished the name of the industry, especially those who exported their fish .
Story: Rose Hayford Darko
