General News of Friday, 5 November 2010

Source: GNA

Foreigners are not to engage in artisinal fishing - Mensah

Takoradi, Nov 5, GNA- Mr Daniel Kirk Mensah, Vice President of Ghana Industrial Trolleys Association, on Wednesday condemned the involvement of foreigners in artisanal fishing, a preserve of local fishermen.

He said foreigners were now constructing wooden vessels and canoes which in the past were done only by local fishermen adding, foreigners were prohibited from building wooden vessels and canoes. Mr Mensah was speaking at a day's workshop organized by Friends of the Nation (FoN) with support from the Overseas Development Institute in the United Kingdom for Journalists in the Western Region at Takoradi. The objective of the workshop was to inform journalists on fisheries and environmental governance to help as part of a public education campaign on the fisheries law to generate discussions and ensure transparency and cooperation among stakeholders in the region's fisheries sector.

Mr. Mensah alleged that some foreign vessels were evading taxes and spoke against Ghanaians acting as frontmen for foreigners to operate in the fisheries sector in the country.