Beyond a busy harbourside market in the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi, where hundreds of fishermen scurry past pans sizzling with sardines, mackerels and moonfish, sit two offshore rigs that serve as a constant reminder of Ghana\u2019s looming energy boom.<\/p>\n
Many in the country\u2019s western region, the epicentre of the fishing industry, had been optimistic that oil production would bring jobs, cheaper fuel and economic prosperity. But now, they say oil exploration programmes are impeding their livelihoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fish catch has reduced drastically since oil exploration started here,\u201d says Kofi al-Haji Musa, 43, who has been fishing in the area for 31 years. \u201cBefore oil exploration started I could fill my canoe with fish three times every day. Now, I can\u2019t even manage one load,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Fishermen and activists say a planned seismic survey by ESL Consulting and Medea Development will disrupt their work during the height of the season, ruining the prospect of a profitable harvest. The survey is due to start next week and continue until November.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeismic surveys will obstruct fishing and deny fishermen the opportunity to fish,\u201d says Kyei Yamoah, programme coordinator for natural resources management at Friends of the Nation. \u201cThey are causing a lot of problems because they are denying fishermen access to fish at a very opportune time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foreign firms exploring for oil and gas are forcing fishermen out of the waters they have trawled for centuries, fishermen say, lamenting that the government has sidelined them in pursuit of an energy boom that is expected to earn the country up to $1bn a year when it hits peak production, up from $707m in the first three-quarters of 2013 (pdf).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were excited when the oil companies told us we were going to share the sea \u2013 we thought the price of petrol would go down. But now, the companies and the government are not treating us fairly. We have not been consulted [in their plans],\u201d says Nana Kobina Asmah, chief fisherman for Sekondi.<\/p>\n
Exports from Ghana\u2019s fishing industry total about $60m a year, providing income for 10% of the population, according to government estimates. The ministry of food and agriculture says: \u201cThe fishing sector \u2026 contributes significantly to national economic development objectives related to employment, livelihood support, poverty reduction, food security, foreign exchange earnings and resource sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
But fishermen say they have not been consulted by the government, and no one has been willing to hear their grievances. \u201cThey don\u2019t want us to talk; they are using political means to kill us,\u201d says Joseph Eshun, secretary of the Sekondi Canoe Owners Association. \u201cIn the next 10 years we all know our fishing industry will be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), which oversees exploration, says seismic surveys will not disrupt fishing. \u201cWe have been engaging the association of fishermen on this project,\u201d says a GNPC spokesman. \u201cThe fishermen need to understand there is a new entrant into the sea and that there is a need for that coexistence.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Medea says the survey will not permanently disrupt Ghana\u2019s fishing industry. \u201cThe seismic survey could potentially result in a temporary drop in catch levels of fish and other types of catch normally caught by artisanal and semi-industrial fisheries as a result of the movement of fish schools away from the areas undergoing seismic surveys,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But Ghana\u2019s opposition has condemned the ruling party for failing to properly address the needs of fishermen, dismissing the initial audits as flawed. \u201cThe environmental impact assessment [of oil exploration] was not properly done,\u201d says Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah of the New Patriotic party, who is the MP for Takoradi. \u201cThe public forum that was held was rushed through, and therefore many of the local concerns were not addressed. It also did not make provisions for alternative livelihoods for fisherman affected by oil and gas exploration \u2013 that\u2019s where we need to concentrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
GNPC says: \u201cWe have plans to assess the dynamics as far as alternative livelihoods are concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghana\u2019s fishing community is worried that their industry will go the same way as that of neighbouring Nigeria, where fishermen have been displaced by oil production.<\/p>\n
Eshun says: \u201cIn Nigeria once oil production started, it was the end of the fishing industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yamoah also sees the clock ticking for Ghana\u2019s fishermen: \u201cThere is no marine protected area, there is no law saying that this area is reserved for only fishermen and no oil firms can explore there. The laws that are being made now are designed to allow all areas to be exploited by oil and gas companies. Eventually, Ghana\u2019s fishing industry will collapse \u2013 especially in the western region \u2013 and fishermen will have to look for other things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: theguardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beyond a busy harbourside market in the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi, where hundreds of fishermen scurry past pans sizzling with sardines, mackerels and moonfish, sit two offshore rigs that serve as a constant reminder of Ghana\u2019s looming energy boom. Many in the country\u2019s western region, the epicentre of the fishing industry, had been optimistic that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":41627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[21,4],"yoast_head":"\n