The Programs Manager for Friends of the Nation (FoN_, Kyei Kwadwo Yamoah has called on government to enforce Ghana’s fisheries laws to secure its fish resources in a sustainable manner.

He said this at the Fish Festival organized by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in Accra aimed at improving fisheries governance in West
Africa and the wider-sub region.

The Improving Fisheries Governance (IFG) project is being implemented for a three-year period in collaboration with Friends of the Nation and its allied partners with funding from the Oak Foundation and Ocean 5.

According to the Programs Manager for Friends of the Nation, Kyei Kwadwo Yamoah, Ghana cannot be careless in fighting against illegal fishing and the depletion of its fish stock. In his view, when that should happen, many livelihoods would be lost thus impoverishing local communities.

"Mobilizing stakeholder support for the effective and timely monitoring and enforcement of fisheries laws, controlling over capacity, stopping all forms of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices cannot be overlooked in our quest to prevent the extinction of Ghana’s fish stock’’ he said.

He also recommended sanctions such as publishing punishment meted out for fisheries crimes, publicizing details of the owners of each fishing vessel, punishing anyone involved in illegal fishing and ending landings of unlicensed species.

The other stakeholders supporting the IFG project includes Enviromental Justice Foundation(EFJ), Hen Mpoano (HM), TM Tracking (TMT) and the Fisheries Committee of West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC).

These partners are working together to strengthen government and industry commitment to improve fisheries governance in key policy areas of enhanced transparency, law enforcement, collaborative management, and capacity building of key stakeholders in Ghana and West Africa.