A Senior Communication Specialist with the World Bank Ghana Office, Kofi Tsikata, is saddened by reports that fishermen in the nation, particularly in the Western Region, have resorted to the use of DDT, carbide, dynamite and light for fishing.
Speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa-Kayi on Peace FM's flagship programme "Kokrokoo", Mr. Kofi Tsikata called on the appropriate fishing authorities in the country to enforce the laws and strictly monitor the activities of fishermen.
According to him, the use of these illegal chemicals adversely affects fishing environments in Ghana, hence posing a threat to the health of the citizenry.
He told Kwami Sefa-Kayi that the use of these chemicals may ruin the fishing business and further claim innocent lives.
"...the fried fish you�re eating; a lot of it is coming from chemicalized fishing activities and every now and then, people get food poisoning. People get all kinds of diseases and die. They don�t know what is causing it," he said.
He therefore called on law enforcement agencies in the fishing sector to adopt strategic policing measures to discourage the fisher folks who poison fishes before sending them to the market for sale.
�They need more policing to make sure people are not taking the generators and the lights, the chemicals; all of those things inland. In Cote d�Ivoire, about 95 percent of the fishermen there are Ghanaians. But because they obey the laws, if you mess up, they will seize all your things and imprison you; in Cote D�Ivoire they don�t do any of these things�When they come to Ghana, they do everything...
�We have too many laws. A whole lot of laws, some are old and they need to be revised and then re-launched," he stressed.
<<Print>>