THE weekly allocation of premix fuel has been increased from 810,000 litres to 1,380,000 litres as an additional measure by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to enable fishermen to attain bumper yields during the peak fishing season which begins in June.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, told the Daily Graphic that in addition to the increased supply of premix, more than 170 landing beach committees had been formed under the restructuring exercise to be solely in charge of the distribution of premix directly to the fishing communities.
He announced that as part of the preparation for the fishing season, which begins at the end of this month, MoFA had acquired 1,000 outboard motors through the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) for distribution to both inland and offshore fishermen to help them carry out their fishing expeditions with modern equipment.
The Deputy Minister said another batch of 3,000 outboard motors was being negotiated for from India to augment the fleet of outboard motors for the expected bumper harvest this season.
That, he said, was to mark the departure from the lassez faire attitude that characterised the sale of premix in the past and which led to the diversion of the product, at the expense of the fishing communities.
He urged the fishing communities to reciprocate the government’s gesture by desisting from the use of undersized nets, dynamite and poisonous chemicals such as DDT for fishing, which he said destroyed the fish stock, including the fingerlings.
He said the government was seeking funds to undertake feasibility studies of the 14 landing beaches to be constructed in the country with cold storage facilities to add value to fish during the season.
He said the government had streamlined the sale of the product and crafted guidelines to regulate the operations of the landing beach committees, the result of which would manifest during the bumper season in June, July and August.
He said unlike the past when the hyper rich hijacked the sale and distribution of the product and nothing was left for the communities, now 53 per cent of the profit made on premix was allocated to the fishing communities for social responsibility projects.
The Deputy Minister expressed regret that in the past no school or clinic was built for the fishing communities from the profits from the sale of premix and gave an assurance that henceforth the profit made by the Landing Beach Committees would be used to build clinics and schools and purchase fishing nets and gear for fishermen.
He praised some fishing communities where the fishermen had started using the profits to register their members on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Nii Namoale said his ministry had banned pair trawling, noting that since he assumed office as Deputy Minister, no permit had been issued to any company to fish in the country’s territorial waters using pair trawlers.
He assured the fishing communities that any company caught practising pair trawling would be prosecuted.
He said the defunct Ministry of Fisheries left behind a debt of £4 million which had become a great burden for the Fisheries Department to shoulder, in addition to discharging its present commitment to the fishing industry.
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