|
Ministry of Fisheries denies rumor behind pair
trawling
Accra, Aug. 26, Ghanadot/GNA- The
Ministry of Fisheries on Tuesday denied reports that foreign
vessels were pair trawling in the country's territorial
waters, stressing that those vessels were Ghanaian owned.
Mrs Gladys Asmah, sector Minister told newsmen in Accra that
the ban on pair trawling was still in place and the Ministry
would in no way encourage the practice, to harm the fishing
industry.
Mrs. Asmah was reacting to a statement made by the Chief of
Naval Staff, Real Admiral A.R.S Nuno, in the Daily Graphic
last Monday, that a large number of foreign vessels were
engaging in pair trawling and that the Navy could do little
to save the situation.
Pair trawling involves dragging a huge net between two boats
to catch fish. Although catch through this method far
exceeds the standard trawling, it is dangerous to aquatic
habitat and species.
Mrs. Asmah further indicated that the Ministry had not
licensed any foreign vessel to pair trawl, but only four
local companies were licensed in 2000, before the
establishment of the Ministry, to use the method as an
experiment for the study of its effects.
She said after the experiment period, the companies
petitioned the Ministry to be allowed some more time, in
order for them to settle their bank loans used in purchasing
the vessels.
The Minister said the companies, namely Messrs Kiku Company,
Cactus Enterprise, Nyameyie Cold stores Limited and MASS
Fisheries Limited, would however have their licence evoked
in December, this year.
Mrs Asmah pointed out that foreigners on board the vessels
should not be misconstrued that they were pair trawling,
since they were just part of the crew employed due to the
lack of required expertise in Ghana.
Touching on the Navy's role in enforcing the ban, the
Minister described the claim that the Navy could do little
to arrest the situation as "unfortunate".
She said this was because the Navy had the sole
responsibility to enforce and protect the country's
territorial waters.
She said the Ministry had paid millions of cedis to the Navy
to conduct surveillance and arrest perpetrators, but the
Navy had rather done little since the operations began.
The Minister therefore asked Real Admiral Nuno to retract
the statement, saying that the Ministry was not looking
forward to any antagonism with the Navy but cooperation to
protect the natural resource.
GNA
|
