Nana Dr. Oyeman Ofori-Ani, the Board Secretary of the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association, is urging the government to domesticate international fisheries regulations and agreements for the Ghana Maritime Authority’s simple execution.
He contends that although while the goal of all international treaties and regulations is to protect the fisheries industry, in order for them to have legal force, they must first be recognized as state laws.
Speaking on the Eye on Port live show, he claimed that domesticating international norms will enable local governments to enforce them and assure industry participants’ compliance.
The Board Secretary said this in relation to the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 and other international conventions by other establishments like the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Also contributing to the discussion was the Deputy Director in charge of Surveys and Inspections at the Ghana Maritime Association GMA), Captain William Eson Thompson, who commended the Minister of Fisheries, Mavis Hawa Koomson for her initiative in the issuance of licenses for vessel owners.
“Until she sees a certificate from GMA, no more fishing license and that is what is making our operations very effective”.
Touching on the enforcement of safety regulations on fishing vessels to meet international practices, Captain Thompson emphasized that even though the safety standards of some fishing vessels have been low in the past, the GMA is doing all it can to raise those standards to acceptable levels.
Nana Dr. Oyeman Ofori-Ani said the periodic surveys by the GMA has proven to be very useful in the sense that some safety issues that hitherto were ignored by the vessel owners are being taken seriously.
“When they started the recent operations, we have been exposed to lot more that we needed to have done that we weren’t even aware. Now we are not only talking about the condition of the vessel thus the safety equipment or machinery, we are now focusing even on the crew. So now crew welfare has become a major issue that we will take onboard from next year,” he said.
“We concentrated on our safety life-saving equipment first, and then we moved it on to the other aspects of the vessel safety. So yes, the standards were low but right now, there is a program in place that is bringing the standard to the international level”.
He advised that the consequences of not adhering to international best practices in the fisheries industry could have dire consequences for the sector.
He said international bodies like the European Union where Ghana exports could impose sanctions.