The chairman of the scientific and technical working group of sustainable fisheries management project has described government’s decision to postpone the closed season for fishing to next year as risky.
Professor Kobina Yankson says the decision by the government is not in the interest of the industry.
Fishermen across the country had kicked against the policy, saying its implementation would make them poor.
Read: Cabinet suspends one-month ban on fishing
Following a Cabinet meeting last Thursday, the government announced the suspension of the policy to allow for broader consultations.
Deputy Director of Fisheries, Nimorious Naryan Penyir says President Akufo-Addo agrees the time given to the fishermen to prepare for the implementation of the close season was inadequate hence the decision to postpone it to 2019.
Read: Fishing industry will pay price for closed-season deferral – CSO warns
However, a community advocate for sustainable fishing from Abanzde in the Central region, Nana Kweigya, says the decision to postpone the closed season only indicates that the picture of crisis painted by government and scientists was not true after all.
He doubts the closed season will ever be implemented in 2019.
Meanwhile, fishermen across the country have welcomed the move.
Source: AdomOnline.com
