Fishing activities for all marine fleets would be closed for one month starting August 7 to September 7 2018, Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture has announced.

The move, according to the Ministry, is a major step to achieve sustainable fishing and help replace the depleting fish stock in the marine sub-sector.

“We have continued to believe in the cliché that ‘sea never dry’. It is not the case any longer. The sea is drying. The president has directed that all fishing fleets should be closed for one month”. Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Elizabeth Afoley Quaye said at a press conference held in Accra today.

The Minister revealed that the fishing sector, which has seen a massive decline in production over the last two decades, appears to be heading towards a total collapse.

The ban, she explained, would enable female species lay more eggs for bumper harvest while urging fishermen to desist from harvesting pregnant fishes.

Comparing the situation to herdsmen and poultry farmers, who she said do not slaughter their expectant female animals, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye maintained that, “Each year that we catch many of the pregnant fish during the so-called bumper season, we are reducing the spawning potential for the next year. Nobody slaughters their pregnant sheep or goat or hen laden with egg. When we do so, we are eating our chicks before they are born”.



She thus adviced fishermen to comply with the order so as to reap plentiful yield when the close season ends.