Keta (V/R)-Ghana, Dec. 25, GNA – Mr Seth Yormewu, the District Chief Executive for Anloga in the Volta Region, has appealed to fisherfolks in the area to indulge in sustainable fishing practices to preserve the water bodies.
He said the best way was to embark on legal and accepted methods of fishing instead of using chemicals and illegal methods.
Mr Yormewu made the appeal during a stakeholder meeting with all chief fishermen within Keta and Anloga District, which was summoned by Togbi Agbeshie Awusu II, the Awadada of the Anlo State.
“Here in Anlo land, we do not have the gold, diamond, or cocoa as others have out there. Our gold is the lagoon and the sea and if we don not protect them, we will go hungry with our generations,” he stated.
In an engagement with the Ghana News Agency after the meeting, Mr Yormewu advised fishermen and fish processors to heed to the call or failure to which he said“the laid down laws will be applied.”
An agreement was also reached on the registration and identification of canoes on the lagoon as well as the formation of task forces, which formed part of other measures to help mitigate the menace.
According to reports, fisherfolks on the Keta Lagoon have been indulging in bad and illegal methods of fishing recently after the sluice gates and sandbar at Kedzi-Havedzi was opened, allowing the Lagoon to breed sea species due to the interconnection of the two water bodies.
The situation had compelled fishermen to resort to illegal ways to catch fingerlings of the species which many have condemned.
Some claimed the practices would not only destroy the aquatic live, but also pose some serious health concerns to consumers.
The use of dynamites, light, and use of illegal nets are among some bad methods identified.
Over 30 chief fishermen and women from the two fishing dominated Districts, Traditional authorities, representatives of Keta Youth Parliament, and the media, who took part in the meeting, agreed to start a campaign against the act.
