Mr Eric Cobbina, Shama District Chief Executive (DCE), has members of the Premix Fuel Landing Beach Committees (PFLBC) managing the distribution of the premix fuel, to use the product judiciously for the benefit of all.

He said the government, knowing the major role played by fishermen to promote the economy, introduced the PFLBC in the fishing industry with the aim of bringing sanity and equitable distribution of the subsidised premix fuel for productivity.

Mr Cobbina noted that previously proceeds from the sale of the premix fuel went to individual pockets and therefore to avoid the selfish practice, relevant members were involved.

The DCE made the call when he paid his first working visit to four out of the seven landing beaches in Shama to seek first-hand information on the challenges facing the fisher folks with the view to finding solution to them.

Fishing is the main livelihood of the people of Shama.

The fishermen complained about unfairness, irregular allocation of premix fuel and non-involvement of relevant members in the Landing Beach Committees.

They also talked about adjustment of bottles used to fill the fuel to favour the committee members, fraudulent deals in the distribution of the fuel, indiscriminate arrest of offenders of fishing regulations, as well as insanitary conditions along the beaches.

They called for the expedition of the sea defence wall project currently underway at the beaches as the delay is adversely affecting their livelihood.

On complaints about indiscriminate arrest of their members by the Marine police and Naval Personnel, Mr Cobbina noted that illegal fishing practices like the use of light for fishing had contributed largely to low catch, hence government’s intervention to its ban.

He said although fishermen contribute to the country’s economic growth, bad practices among some fisherfolk would not be tolerated and therefore urged them to respect and comply with the regulation, by being responsible to arrest the decline of the fish stock.

Reacting to complaints about the insanitary conditions along the beaches, the DCE said the issue is a collective responsibility and therefore urged the fishermen to take the initiative to undertake periodic clean up exercises to win support from the assembly.

Shama, a fishing community in the Western Region has seven landing beaches, namely Awuna, Apo, Benstir, Amena-Ano, Abuesi, Kese Wo Kan and Aboadze.