The Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana, (CaFGOAG) has engaged fishers in the Southern part of the Volta region under an initiative dubbed, “Creating Synergies Between Indigenous Practices and Scientific Knowledge (ISIPSK) Sankofa Project.”
The aim was to collect and analyze first hand information and data from the fishers on indigenous fishing practices and how to create synergies between such practices and modern methods in order to assist in shaping policies and to improve on fishing and other related activities in Ghana and elsewhere.
It came off between July 1 and 3, and was implemented by the University of St. Andrews, in collaboration with CaFGOAG, the Fisheries Commission of Ghana (FCG), Fisheries Committee of the West and Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), which oversees marine fisheries management issues in Liberia, La Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, with
funding from the PEW Fellows Program in Marine Conservation at PEW Charitable Trust.
Participants and respondents were drawn from the various landing beaches along the Southern coast of the Volta region and were taken through focussed group discussions with respondents answering questions on indigenous fishing practices and the impact of closed seasons on fishing activities and the livelihoods of the fishers.
Speaking on the sidelines of the engagement, President of CaFGOAG, Nana Kweigya expressed hope that the project would achieve its set goal and to assist policy makers improve fishing activities and better the lot of the fishers in the country.
He said CaFGOAG would continue to partner government through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aqua-culture Development (MoFAD) and other relevant institutions in the management of fishing and related activities in the country.
The CaFGOAG president commended the fishers for turning up in their numbers for the exercise and urged them to strictly observe the month long ongoing closed fishing season in order to avoid falling foul of the law.
By Leo Nelson || Ghananewsonline.com.gh