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Mercy Allotey, a fish seller, is waiting on the seafront in Accra, capital of Ghana, for customers to buy the freshest catch brought by the brightly colored canoes that crisscross the coast.
But she complains that local fishermen are gaining fewer and fewer nets, as a combination of illegal techniques and unscrupulous trawlers has devastated the stocks.
"This is spoiling our fishing," she told AFP.
"Often when they go, they do not take the fish."
The fishing sector is of crucial importance for this country of West Africa.
It provides support to more than two million people, representing up to 10% of the population, and the products it generates generate about 60% of the protein in the diet of Ghanaians.
But the numbers are surprising. United Nations data show that production increased from nearly 420 000 tonnes in 1999 to 202 000 tonnes in 2014.
It is necessary to blame both the offshore trawlers operated by the Chinese and the harmful practices employed by the artisbad fishermen who strive to compensate for the losses.
Last month, a report by the Ghanaian NGO Hen Mpoano and the European Environmental Justice Foundation indicated that trawlers cost the economy about $ 50 million a year. country.
In a practice known locally as "saiko", they illegally target basic catch of local fishermen – including sardinella and mackerel – and sell them to shore communities via middlemen.
The report estimates that about 100,000 tons of fish were recovered this way in 2017, which has significantly reduced employment opportunities for Ghanaians who depend on fishing.
Prohibitions
Ghana is seeking to crack down on saiko as well as illegal practices used by local fishermen, including using bright lights to attract fish, poisoning them with chemicals or even throwing dynamite into the water.
In order to rebuild its stocks, the government banned artisbad fishing for a month from May to June and will ban trawlers in August and September.
But even officials admit that there is still much to be done to remedy the situation.
"The big challenge is a complete understanding of the system by the policymakers and the fisherman until the end," said Emmanuel Kwafo, head of law enforcement for fisheries in the Ghanaian navy.
He added that Ghana must radically change the mentality that illegal methods are considered permissible to make ends meet.
"When we act properly, we increase our chances of survival," he said.
Kwafo participated in a major maritime conference that was held last week in Accra and which brought together naval leaders from West Africa and elsewhere to discuss issues such as illegal fishing and the scourge of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
Illegal fishing has a devastating cost for the region – the UN estimates that nearly 40% of all fish caught in West Africa are illegally caught, resulting in a loss of $ 2.3 billion.
"Survival of Ghana"
Kamal-Deen Ali, director of the Center for Maritime Law and Security in Africa, based in Accra, does not hide the need to repair the fisheries sector.
"The fisheries are linked to food security, national security and Ghana's survival as a country," he told AFP.
He insists that the first plague on which saiko trawlers concentrate.
But he added that existing laws must also be enforced by local fishermen – politicians often being at the mercy of their communities and turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.
Few people are more familiar with the threats than Nii Quaye, a former fisherman who now works as a local trade spokesman in the Accra district in James Town.
Among his tasks, he checks the catches to make sure that they have not been caught with chemicals or dynamite.
He added that the fishermen had not seen any increase in their stocks as a result of the artisbad suspension, and that law enforcement would be a success.
"When you stop a person using chemicals or illegal fishing, if she goes to jail for three to six months, when she stops five people, I think everything will be stopped," he said.
But he fears that if nothing important is done, there may be more fish in a few years.
"Everyone in James Town will be hungry because there is no fish," he said.
"We were begging, so (they), they stop him."
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