Fishermen operating at the Tema Canoe Beach would soon be contributing to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) pension scheme. This is to ensure that fishermen retiring from active fishing would have some money to support them in their old age before death.

Nii Odametey II, Tema Awudum Chief Fisherman, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the Canoe Beach in Tema, said members had met management of SSNIT to fashion out how best to implement the pension scheme.

He stated that members of the Canoe Owners Association would be responsible for the payment of monies to SSNIT towards the pension of the fishermen operating their canoes.

He said it is sad to see older men who have retired from active fishing, visiting the seashore with bowls in hand begging for some fish to live on.

According to him, while fishermen in the Western Countries are rich, those in Ghana are very poor, therefore steps must be taken to cushion them to keep them from the poverty trap.

He said such a scheme must also be initiated for fishermen working on bigger vessels especially the Chinese and Korea vessels as they also suffer similar fate after retirement.

Nii Odametey said insurance companies must also initiate policies for fishermen and their equipment including canoes, nets and outboard motors.

He therefore commended government for mentioning in the 2014 budget that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture would facilitate the implementation of the Fishermen Life Insurance Scheme.

According to Mr Seth Tekper, Minister of Finance, the insurance scheme would transfer the risk of liability resulting from the payment of compensation in the event of accidents in the coastal and lake fishing communities to the private sector.

The budget envisaged that “about 200,000 fishermen would have an insurance cover over life, canoes, outboard motors and fishing net at the end of the year”.