An integrated project involving a collaboration between 12 local and international private and public organisations has been launched to establish a wide and ready international market for Ghana's fresh tuna, modernise the country's tuna industry and raise the incomes of local artisan fishermen. The project, which is dubbed the Private-Public Partnership (PPP), will develop a sustainable tuna supply chain between Ghanaian tuna fishermen and fish processing and distribution companies in The Netherlands and the Philippines. Under a second component of the project, wooden dug-out canoes used by artisanal fishermen for deep sea tuna fishing will be replaced by fibre glass boats and this is supposed to help conserve what is left of Ghana's tropical hardwood trees. The Ghanaian and foreign companies with the support of the Dutch Ministry for Development Co-operation are investing 1.6 million euros in the project, which will, under yet another component, embark upon a training programme to transfer modern techniques of deep sea fishing to local fishermen. Project officials said at the weekend that the project would introduce tuna fishermen to new fishing techniques, which have been developed in the Philippines over the last two decades. They said the joint venture would build an operational shipyard that would manufacture and sell the fibre glass fishing vessels. The ship yard is to be built with the support of the GRATIS Project in Tema. A credit facility will be made available to small-scale fishermen for the purchase of the glass fibre boats. The Dutch Government appointed Country Advisor and Facilitator of the project, Mr Nobel Kumawu, and a coordinator of the project, Mr Joseph Kudjordji, said that the project was the outcome of deliberations at the 2006 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the subsequent decision of The Netherlands Ministry for Development Co-operation to promote the role of the private sector in fostering sustainable development in Ghana. The project officials said that the worldwide market for quality fresh fish was growing and the joint venture was intended to take advantage of the thriving fresh tuna market which had evolved since the 1990's to increase Ghana's tuna export potential and alleviate poverty in fishing communities in the country. "They said in Ghana, fishermen belonged to the poorest communities, mainly because increasing exploitation of the coastal areas had led to degradation of the country's marine environment and impoverished fishermen. It had also led to degradation of the tropical forests that provide the hardwood for the traditional dug-out canoes," he said. Officials of the project said it was important to make a credit facility available to fishermen for the success of the joint venture, because of the problems fishermen had always faced in accessing credit. They said that the so called "credit with catch-sale bondage" had always been exploitative, with Mr Kudjordji explaining that under this system, fishermen would receive loans from an intermediary for purchasing or repairing a boat, or even for purchasing food and other materials for long fishing voyages, The fishermen are then required to sell their fish catch to the intermediary instead of selling it on the open market. Fishers are required to bring the fish catch to the intermediary’s shed where it is sold at 20 to 30 per cent lower than the market price. He said another source of credit for fishermen was the "credit on high interest" option. "Under this system, fishermen receive credit from intermediaries. This is the most exploitative credit system. Under this system, those receiving a loan will have to return it to the intermediaries with an interest of 60 to 100 per cent per year. The result is the inability of the fishermen to break out of the relationship and they borrow continuously to repay the old debt." Source: Daily Graphic