The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, and Liberia’s Director General of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority, Madam Emma Metieh Glassco have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Accra on Monday, Madam Koomson described IUU as a major challenge facing the sub-region, with far-reaching environmental and socio-economic consequences.
She cited the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as saying that illegal fishing costs the West African sub-region USD23 billion per year and called for a united front to combat IUU.
Madam Koomson also emphasized the need for sub-regional countries to implement the close season concurrently as a stock recovery strategy, stating that “sustainable management of the fisheries resources and ecosystem is thus a shared responsibility requiring effective collaboration among sub-regional countries.”
She acknowledged the Liberian government’s support for Ghanaian artisanal fishers and stated that “the signing of the MoU demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our countries’ collaboration.”
Irene Wirekoaa Osei, ISD
