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The fishing community of the Sekondi Fishing Harbour have complained that the directive to suspend fishing activities to pave way for oil exploration on the East Cape Three Points Block Offshore would seriously affect their livelihoods This is because the scheduled period of August 25 to November 5 this year, falls within the main fishing season. Mr. Joseph Eshun, Secretary to the Canoe Fishermen Association said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Medea Development Limited directive was given without consultation with them and their sector Ministry. A better date, the fishermen said, would have been arranged for that activity if they had been consulted and called, therefore, for a review of the slated period. �Parliament endorsed the agreement for prospecting for oil in December 2013, but there has been no consultation with fishermen and the Ministry concerned to establish a suitable period for this exploration work,� he stated. �We stress that any action to stop or restrict fishing activities would have great effect on the fishing industry, as well as the economy, because some fishermen have taken huge sums of loans to repair and prepare for the bumper season.� The Secretary said the fishing industry continues to suffer from oil production activities, alleging that, �the harvest rate has fallen and problems like oil spillage and unbalanced water have made a lot of fisherman jobless in the Region�.