Accra, Feb. 11, GNA - Enactment of the first fisheries regulations is in the offing, Mr. Mike Akyeampong, Chairman of Fisheries Commission announced at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region. He noted that several offenders under the Fisheries Act were not punished due to the absence of regulations that specified infringements and sanctions that would serve as a deterrent to potential offenders. "The absence of fisheries regulations has created a vacuum in the management of the fishery resources in the country on a sustainable basis, "he said.

Mr. Akyeampong former Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture (Fisheries) was addressing the opening session of a three-day workshop organized by the Fisheries Commission on the Draft Fisheries Regulations. The participants included fishery associations, fish processors, importers and exporters, researchers and legal experts in the fishing industry, to deliberate on the prepared regulations and make inputs to the draft regulation. Mr. Akyeampong said the importance of fisheries regulation to regulate fishery activities within an appropriate legal framework could not be over-emphasized and called on stakeholders to be objective and place the country's interest above their own.