The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture has inaugurated the Governing Council of the Fisheries Commission of Ghana with a charge to scale up the crackdown on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

The European Commission, leading the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide, has issued a warning - a so-called yellow card - to Ghana, indicating that it risks being identified as a non-cooperating country in the fight against IUU fishing.

The yellow card serves as a warning and offers Ghana the opportunity to respond and take corrective measures within a reasonable timeframe. At this stage, the decision does not entail any trade-related measures. However, in cases of prolonged and continued non-compliance, countries can ultimately face identification procedures (a so-called red card), which may result in sanctions such as a prohibition on exporting their fishery products to the EU market.

In a bid to avert potential international sanctions on Ghana's seafood exports, Fisheries Minister Emelia Arthur revealed during the swearing-in ceremony of the Fisheries Commission's governing council that she is implementing several measures, including delisting non-compliant fishing vessels, to clean up Ghana's fisheries sector. She also charged the newly sworn-in Board to intensify enforcement efforts.

“This is not just an administrative appointment, it is a national calling. Our sector feeds millions, employs thousands and has fast potential for economic transformation. I urge you to be guided by our new vision statement that we just came out with this weekend, as we worked tirelessly away trying to figure out where we want to move this sector to. And it is a sustainable, well-governed, resilient fisheries and aquaculture sector driven by equity, innovation and strategic investments delivering food security, decent jobs, economic growth, resources and environmental stewardship and contributing to the national Blue Economy agenda."

The fisheries Minister has also hinted at the reintroduction of a revised law that will regulate the fisheries sector.

This, she revealed, is a result of the failure of the previous parliament to pass the legislation, hence the decision of her outfit to commence the policy process again.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Governing Council of the Fisheries Commission, Professor Wisdom Akpalu, noted that the fisheries Sector has suffered over the years, resulting in significant IUU activities.

"So there’s a need to look at that,” he added.

The identified shortcomings in the fisheries sector include illegal transshipments at sea of large quantities of undersized juvenile pelagic species between industrial trawl vessels and canoes in Ghanaian waters, deficiencies in the monitoring, control and surveillance of the fleet and a legal framework that is not aligned with the relevant international obligations Ghana has signed up to.