The fisher folks, most of whom have been temporarily rendered unemployed, say they are beginning to feel the impact

of the month-long closed season as they run out of cash and foodstuff barely a week after the implementation of this year's closed fishing season.

When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the Sanno landing beach it observed that while some fisher folks were.

While some of them have left the shores to engage in alternative sources of livelihood, the rest, mostly canoe owners and fishermen, have stayed behind to work on their canoes and fishing nets.

When the Ghana News Agency (GNA), visited the Sango Landing beach, it observed that while some fisher folks were mending their nets, others were playing cards to while away time or idled around as they eagerly look forward to the end of the season.

The GNA also observed an excavator desilting the canals of the Sango Lagoon.

A group of young men were also ferrying people across the canals of the lagoon and the sea at a fee.

A Leader of the group who gave his name as Armah said, they charged GHC2 to ferry a person across the canal from Teshie into Nungua and vice versa.

The move, he said, was to create an alternative source of livelihood during the period.

In an interview, Nii Adjei Wawadzan, the Chief Fisherman at the Sango Landing Beach said the fisher folks, most of whom do not have alternative sources of livelihood, were beginning to experience difficulty sustaining their families.

He said the month-long closed season had turned them into temporarily unemployed people.

Nii Wawadzan noted that the Sango Lagoon, which used to provide them with alternative sources of fishing, had been polluted beyond recovery.

The 47-year-old Chief Fisherman, who is equally facing the impact of the closed season, revealed that apart from his four wives and 19 children, he also had 12 employees who depended on him for their livelihood.

"I spend not less than a GHC100 daily to provide food for my employees...Fishing is the only job I have known, and just like my colleagues who do not have alternative means, I am experiencing hardship," he said.

The Big Seven, a group of fishers who interacted with the GNA also revealed that the closed season had negatively impacted their finances.

"Considering the fact that the business itself is no longer lucrative, the month-long season is taking a toll on us,they said.

The fisher folks who are appealing to the government for support said they were looking forward to the end of the season with bated breath.

The fisher folks who are appealing to the government for support said they were looking forward to the end of the season with bated breath.

They have appealed for uncooked foodstuff to help them sustain themselves and their families during the month-long closed season.

Following the depletion of fish stock in the sea, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in accordance with Section 84 of the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625), instituted the closed fishing season.

The closed fishing season, which forms part of a series of strategies to recover fish stock, also aims at ensuring sustainable management of fisheries resources.

While canoe and inshore fishers would observe the closed season between July 1 and 31, industrial trawlers would observe it from July 1 to August 31.