Nene Divine Obubuafo III, who spoke on behalf of the fishermen, said fishing was the only means of livelihood for the people and, therefore, if the government did not intervene with scholarships for their children, just as is done for children of cocoa farmers, many fishermen’s children would drop out of school, since fishermen do not earn anything meaningful.

The fishermen made the call when the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mrs Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye, visited their community as part of her tour of some fishing communities to familiarise herself with their activities.

Scholarship

Nene Obubuafo explained that many students from the community had dropped out of school because there was no money to cater for them, noting that the scholarship scheme would enable students to pursue their dreams in education.

He added that it would also help produce professionals and help eradicate poverty in the communities.

Challenges

He listed some of the challenges facing fishermen as the unavailability of fishing gear, lack of proper storage systems and rising cases of illegal fishing.

“Fishing has to be given much attention to help eradicate poverty from our fishing communities,” Nene Obubuafo said. 

Tour

Some of the towns Mrs Quaye and her entourage visited were Ada Foah, Sege and Prampram, where she patiently listened to the needs of fishermen and pledged to get closer to them to address issues confronting them.

She assured them that the government would subsidise approved fishing nets to replace unapproved ones and also subsidise the cost of outboard motors.

"Using the right nets will enable you to harvest more fish and not fingerlings,” she said.

The minister said the ministry was planning to form task forces among fishermen to arrest those who flout regulations governing fishing in the country.

She said she would forward the request for scholarships to the Cabinet for consideration.

Responses

On the issue of premix fuel which has been the bane of the industry, Mrs Quaye said: "Fishermen have politicised the issue of premix. Therefore, you should come together and solve your internal problems and stop politicising the issue.”

She called on fishermen to respect the directive that barred them from fishing for three months, beginning January each year, in order to allow fingerlings to grow.