The Central Regional Director for the Fisheries Commission, Mr. Kwame Damoah has revealed Ghana's fishing industry to reach a point that demands the consented effort of all stakeholders to aid in the revival and sustainability of the industry.

Mr. Damoah disclosed that the country's fishing industry, particularly its small pelagic fisheries is at the verge of nearing depletion as annual records to its landing for over a decade now shows a consistent decline rate.

The Central Regional Fisheries Director told Sompa News reporter Eric Annan in the Commission's moratorium of new canoe entrance, an activity embarked to regulate the number of fishing canoes operating on the region's sea.

He highlighted that the rate at which new and unregistered canoes are being introduced to fish on the sea is alarming.

An activity he indicated to fall under the Fisheries Commission's illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing which pose huge threat to the country's fishing industry.

According to him, the number of canoes required to operate on Ghana's sea should be between 9,000-9,800.

A number the Commission's latest canoe frame survey conducted in 2022 uncovered to have exceeded to 12,805, as new ones introduced after last year's survey could effect the figure balloon to approximately 14,000 canoes currently fishing on the sea.

Mr. Damoah explained that the moratorium embarked upon is in to put check on the country's sea to guard against such illegalities which necessitated the introduction of the close reason to allow the country's widely consumed small pelagics grow to increase, as Ghana's fish landing rate since 1990 remains between 85,000-90,000 metric tonnes.

He declared that as part of the Fisheries Commission's management measures, will in no time launch a three-year ban on newly built canoes from operating on the sea to have the fishes replenish to save Ghana incur the future cost of importing fish from outside the country due to low landing.

Source: Sompaonline.com/Eric Annan