Journalists for Responsible Fisheries and Environment (JRFE), a media advocacy group focused on fisheries, and environmental sustainability have called on the government of Ghana to reconsider the decision to exempt artisanal fishers from this year’s closed season.
Madam Emelia Arthur, minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), has announced that artisanal fishers would not be included in the 2025 closed season.
In a statement signed by Mr Kingsley Nana Buadu, Executive Director of JRFE and copied the GNA, he described the exemption as “worrying” given the significant strides Ghana had made in implementing scientifically backed fisheries management measures since 2016.
The group stressed that reversing the inclusion of artisanal fishers in the closed season contradicted the legal mandate and undermined the Marine Fisheries Management Plan (2022–2026), which calls for a closed season across all fleets.
“It took time, effort and resources before getting artisanal fishers to appreciate the need to agree and comply with the annual closed season in a bid to replenish fish stocks,” he said.
The statement said adherence and compliance level last year for instance was phenomenal, an indication that many efforts had gone into education and awareness creation adding “We cannot take one step forward towards rebuilding the fish stock as a country and take three steps backwards”.
JRFE urged both the Ministry and the Fisheries Commission to enforce all other fisheries management measures strictly, to prevent the reversal of gains made over the years, noting that millions of Ghanaians depended on artisanal fishers for their livelihoods and must be safeguarded.
These measures, the group noted included the enforcement of fisheries laws, registration and licensing of all canoes, upholding the moratorium on new canoe registrations to prevent overcapacity and punishing fishers engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The statement called for the enforcement of the use of multifilament nets among artisanal fishers, along with the observance of traditional non-fishing days and an additional fishing holiday.
The group has therefore appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to direct MoFAD to reconsider the decision, to protect Ghana’s marine resources and the millions of livelihoods tied to the sector.