Illegal fishing is having a negative impact on Ghanas fish stock and economy, and the country is spending around US$200mn annually to import fish to meed the demand
Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this when he participated at the One Ocean Summit, held in Brest, France, upon the invitation of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic.
After the Summit, in a post on his Facebook, he wrote, “I indicated, in my remarks, that, in Ghana, illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing activities have contributed significantly to a decline in fish stocks. As such, we are compelled to spend some US$200mn annually to import fish to shore up our fish requirements.”
He added that to curb this menace, a National Plan of Action is being implemented. Components of this Plan include fish catch certification, reactivation and installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS), automatic identification system (AIS) on vessels, port and beach inspections, and sea patrols.
Ghana also supports the principle of a global convention in this area.
