The Executive Director of Nhyiem Mpoano, Kofi Agbogba is alleging that all fisherman in Ghana is engaged in illegal fishing methods.
“The issue is very, very pervasive coast-wide without exception. I would say that almost every fisherman is indulging in one form of illegality or the other,” he claimed.
The situation persists because according to him, the system is “choked” and so fishermen are in a “race to catch to catch the last fish therefore; everybody is using all kinds of means to get the maximum out of the few.”
Fishermen in Lower Axim in the Western Region are reportedly using DDT, carbide, dynamite and light for fishing.
The light is used to attract the fish, while DDT, carbide and dynamite are used to increase the catch.
When the fishes are brought the shore, they are discoloured with broken flesh and sunken eyes.
Mr. Agbogba on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday warned that the practice poses great health risk to consumers saying, “the impact on us consumers of fish is very dangerous. Some may be bio accumulating in our tissues; first in the tissues of the fish then it’s transferred into our own tissues and it also affects our nervous system.”
He remarked that the practice is not new “but to keep quiet over it is like just covering up for what the fishermen are doing.”
Mr. Agbogba advised the general public who visit the various fishing areas to buy fish to look out for the obituaries of fishermen who have died “because they are the first to consume poisoned fish.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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