|
New
Fisheries regulations before parliament soon
Wa, Dec. 8, Ghanadot/GNA - New Fisheries Regulations, which
are aimed at enhancing the effective implementation of the
Fisheries Act 625 of 2002 will soon be put before Parliament
for approval, Mrs. Gladys Asmah, Minister of Fisheries has
announced.
When approved by Parliament, Practitioners in the
aquaculture sector of the economy could fall on the
regulations to seek redress when their fish was stolen or
their establishments tampered with, she said at this year's
Farmers' Day celebration at Wa on Friday.
The day, which saw 51 farmers, ten extension staff of the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture and one research staff of
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research receiving
various awards, was celebrated under the theme; "Ghana at
50, progress and challenges of sustainable agricultural
development".
The Regulations, Mrs. Asmah said, would deal with regular
monitoring and inspection of aquaculture establishments,
fish seed production certification, fish breeding and
responsible aquaculture practice.
The rest are, tampering with aquaculture establishments,
aquaculture record keeping, transfer of fish within the
country and penalties for the violation of each regulation.
As a step to send the management and administration of
fishing to the people, Community Based Fishing Management
Committees were being formed in all fish landing beaches in
the country.
These Committees, she explained, were made up of
stakeholders of the Industry in the various fishing
communities who would co-manage the fishery resources in
their communities with the state by regulating fishing
activities through enforcement of the fishery laws.
This year, the Ministry has in its support programmes
introduced an input credit system under which fingerlings
and fish feed were produced on loan to prospective fish
farmers and assisted fish farmers to construct ponds.
It was also enticing the financial institutions through the
organization of workshops and farm visits for project
officers to respond positively to applications for loans for
aquaculture projects.
Mr. George Hikah Benson, the Upper West Regional Minster,
said the region had 360 fishing families producing about 74
metric tonnes of various fish species per year and that was
able to supplement the protein requirement of people in the
region.
Mr. Philip Abayore, President of National Farmers and
Fishermen Award Winners Association called on the government
to establish an Agricultural Fund to manage Agricultural
credit in the country.
He suggested that Farmers and Fishers should be fully
represented in mainstream agricultural activities such as
the negotiation, implementation and evaluation of all
agricultural projects in the country.
GNA
|
