Tema, (Greater Accra) 17 Oct.,

The Ghana Navy has arrested 18 fishing vessels this year for violating some of the provisions of the Fisheries Law, Rear-Admiral Emmanuel Kwadwo Osei Owusu-Ansah, Chief of Naval Staff, (CNS) disclosed this at the Eastern Naval Command at Tema today. Addressing an Administrative Inspection Parade of the Eastern Naval Command, Admiral Owusu-Ansah said nine of these cases have been disposed of while the rest are awaiting prosecution. The 1997 Administrative Parade was formed by six officers and 120 ratings with Lieutenant Commander Akwasi Osei Owusu as parade commander and the Navy Band providing music. Admiral Owusu-Ansah explained that as their contribution to the development of the country, the Ghana Navy signed an agreement last year with the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to carry out dedicated, monitoring, control and surveillance patrols to enforce the Fisheries Law as part of the fisheries sub-sector capacity building programme. He said the objective of the law is to save fish stocks in Ghana's exclusive economic zone, adding that Ghana Navy trained captains of fishing vessels between November and December 1996 to enable them to respect the law. The CNS pointed out that enforcement of the law commenced in January 1997, adding: ''I am happy to note that the Navy has been able to meet her contractual obligation despite our operational limitations''. He said since the beginning of the contract, 114 fishing vessels have been boarded and inspected out of which 18 were arrested for violating some of the provisions of the law. Admiral Owusu-Ansah said most of these MCS originated from the Eastern Naval Command and commended the officers and ratings for the technical and logistic support. He also showed his appreciation of the commitment of the commanding officer of the GNS Sebo, Lieutenant Commander Osei Asante, his officers and ratings to the MCS patrols and for arresting most of the offending vessels in spite of the poor technical state of the ship. Adm Owusu-Ansah said next year ''we intend to increase the number of MCS patrols and also commence education and inspection of canoes at the beaches to ensure that they carry the right sized net and also desist from the use of explosives and chemicals at sea''. He said, last year, the government took a decision to localize all major refurbishing and modernization of the Ghana Navy fleet. Currently, he said two of ships are due for refurbishing and that, in a matter of a few days, he expects government to take a decision on who should do the job and in what location. ''As professionals, the challenges we face as a direct result of the government decision to localize such complex jobs are enormous. That is why we need to sharpen our management and leadership skills and our expertise in engineering, procurement and finance to ensure a successful completion of the project when the decision is taken.'' Adam Owusu-Ansah announced the promotion of Ray Kennedy Nyarko, Chief Petty Officer Class Two to Class One following recommendations of discipline, dedication to duty and hard work from the Naval Officer in charge of the Eastern Naval Command with immediate effect.