The din of brisk fishing activity greets anyone who ventures onto the landing beach at Jamestown the Greater Accra Region and in coastal regions all over Ghana.
The fishermen haul nets with fish from the boats, while the women take up the sale of fish from January to December.
But not so in July, when the beaches are deserted and safe from the rolling waves, when not much is going on because the accepted one-month closed season comes off while placing a ban on fishing activities.
Indeed, the closed season observation is part of Ghana’s Sustainable Fisheries Management to help salvage the country’s depleting fish stock which will not only benefit the State but the fisher folks by providing a sustainable ocean for them.
During the closed season, children loiter on the beach, fishermen idle around, and some play draft to pass the time because fishing is their only source of livelihood. And with no alternative work at home, money is scarce, and conflict ensues as mothers and children demand basic needs.
Without the routine fish business in the fishing communities, life becomes tough, provision of bread and butter a ‘world war’. The life of artisanal fishermen stops during closed season as they wait for the ban to be lifted after a month.
It is important to note that before the introduction of the closed season, fishermen in Ghana, have an age-long tradition of not fishing on Tuesdays to allow the sea to rest – the practice is still done in some coastal areas if not all.
The annual intervention, which began in 2019, by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, saw the one-month closure of the sea from July 1 to July 31, for artisanal and semi-industrial fishers and from July 1 to August 31, for industrial fishers.
The ban on fishing has been in force since 2019 except for 2020 when fishing activities were allowed all year round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There had been over 12, 000 registered canoes being used by artisanal fishers, and in 2022, it had been reported that the compliance rate was high where just 38 canoes opposed the closed season.