[net-gold] GHANA: Arming Fishermen with Cameras

From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Net-Gold @ Nabble" <ml-node+3172864-337556105@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:12:51 -0500 (EST)

.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:48:33 -0700 (MST)
From: George Lessard <media@xxxxxxx>
Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Net-Gold] GHANA: Arming Fishermen with Cameras

.

GHANA: Arming Fishermen with Cameras

Subject: GHANA: Arming fishermen with cameras
From: "IRIN" <no-reply@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, January 12, 2010 07:21

GHANA: Arming fishermen with cameras

ACCRA, 12 January 2010 (IRIN) -
On Jamestown beach in Ghana's capital,
Accra, 38-year-old Ayele Okine, mother
of six, grills fingerling fish, smoke
billowing from her charcoal fire.
She supports her six children alone,
as her fisherman husband is serving a
10-year prison term for robbery.

He abandoned fishing for crime when it
became unprofitable to go out to sea,
she said.

"It was a very difficult time for him;
he became very frustrated and depressed,"
Okine told IRIN. "He started drinking a
lot and would not come home for days.
Then one day I was told that he had been
arrested. Since he was convicted it has
been very difficult for us."

Okine's husband is one of several thousand
small-scale fishermen along the coast of
Accra who have given up competing with the
size and technological advantage of foreign
industrial trawlers operating off-shore.

Ato Sartoh, chief fisherman at the Jamestown
fishing community, told IRIN: "Many of my
colleagues are turning to crime and other odd
jobs because the government and its agencies
have failed us."

Some 1.8 million Ghanaians depend on the
fishing industry as a livelihood source,
according to the Agriculture Ministry.

On the verge of collapse

A June 2009 survey by Ghana's Fisheries
Department warned the fishing industry was on
the verge of collapse, partly because of
over-fishing by foreign trawlers.

Ghana imports 36 percent of its fish
requirements at a cost of US$250 million a year,
according to the National Inland Canoe
Fishermen's Council.

Industrial trawlers persist in carrying out
"pair trawling", which involves dragging a net
between two boats and scooping up everything in
its path, despite it being banned in the 2002
Fisheries Act, according to Ghana Fisheries
Commission Chairman Mike Kwabena Akyeampong.

Fishermen say many trawlers also continue to
operate illegally within the 12-nautical-mile
zone which the act reserves for small vessels.

"They use these huge bright floodlights that
attract the fish around the trawlers. They then
catch everything, including fingerlings,"
fisherman Sartoh told IRIN.

Ayele told IRIN her husband often used
to complain about these trawlers.
"He was bitter," she said. "For me I
blame the government which has failed
to keep its promise to get rid of these
big ships."

Armed with cameras

Fisheries Commission chair Akyeampong told
IRIN the government is aware of the scale of
the problem but does not have the resources
to tackle it alone.

The Commission, a wing of the Agriculture
Ministry, is responsible for regulating and
managing Ghana's fishing industry.

"The only way to implement the relevant
aspects of the law that benefits local,
small-scale fishermen, but also most importantly
prevents these foreign trawlers from employing
illegal methods, is to have your eyes on the ocean,"
he told IRIN.

"We will need enough patrol vessels, fully equipped
for a round-the-clock motoring of all fishing
activities. Unfortunately our government does not
have that capacity," Akyeampong continued.

So the commission is turning to local fishermen to
help in the fight. The government will arm fishermen
with cameras, recorders and basic training on
intelligence gathering, so they can document trawlers
operating illegally and report their findings to
Ghanaian security agencies.

The initiative is starting to pay off:
on 17 December local fishermen reported two illegal
foreign vessels both of which went on to have their
licenses suspended.

The Agriculture Ministry is also seeking an
amendment of the fisheries law to impose harsher
penalties for violations (current fines are between
US$50,000 and US$1 million) and is trying to make
it more difficult to get a fishing license. "We stand
to lose all these benefits if we fail to act and act
radically now," Akyeampong told IRIN.

em/aj/cb

[END]

Award-winning climate coverage:
<http://www.irinnews.org/climate>

© IRIN. All rights reserved.
More humanitarian news and analysis:
<http://www.irinnews.org>

[This item comes to you via IRIN,
the humanitarian news and analysis
service of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The opinions expressed do not necessarily
reflect those of the United Nations
or its Member States. Reposting or
reproduction, with attribution, for
non-commercial purposes is permitted.
Terms and conditions:
<http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx>

IRIN partners: Canada, Germany, Ireland,
Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, South Africa,
Sweden, Switzerland, UK, UNEP and the IHC.
More information:
<http://www.irinnews.org/donors.aspx>

--

GEORGE LESSARD

Information & Media Specialist
6402135 Canada Inc.

451 Norseman Drive
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
X1A 2J1, Canada

Yellowknife Land Line # (867) 873-2662
Yellowknife Cell # (867) 445-9193

Online Business Card:
http://lessardcard.notlong.com

Home e-mail: mediamentor@xxxxxxxxx

http://www.scribd.com/doc/22827994/George-Lessard-s-Biography

http://www.google.com/profiles/mediamentor

http://www.netvibes.com/mediamentor

http://lessardcard.notlong.com

SKYPE: themediamentor

http://twitter.com/mediamentor

http://www.facebook.com/mediamentor

My panoramic images

http://panoramas-by-george.notlong.com

My YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mediamentor

Photos: http://photosbygeorge.notlong.com

Books: http://www.scribd.com/MediaMentor

Photo Illustrations:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/george-lessard/sets/72157603627797568/

Etcetera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/george-lessard/sets/459582/

Bookmarks:

http://del.icio.us/themediamentor

Member:

Canadian Association of Journalists

http://www.caj.ca

Canadian Artists Representation /
le Front des artistes canadiennes

http://www.carfac.ca/

Canadian Artists Representation Copyright Collective

http://www.carcc.ca/

.

[net-gold] GHANA: Arming Fishermen with Cameras

Other related posts: