Irate fishermen and fishmongers on Friday clashed with members of a Government Taskforce, mandated to enforce the ban on light fishing and other unorthodox fishing methods. The Taskforce members, mainly made up of naval officers, say they were pelted with stones and other metallic objects as they attempted to seize generators and other accessories used in light fishing. Fishermen and fishmongers in Sekondi, Shama and Abuesi recently demonstrated against what they say is the Taskforce’s highhanded approach in enforcing the ban. During that demonstration, they vowed to confront the task force members, and it appears this confrontation is to honour that promise. According to the women, who led Friday’s attack, the naval personnel on their arrival at the Sekondi Fishing Harbour seized a generator from a local boat operator without any verification to know whether he was using it for light fishing or not. One of the fishmongers told Maxx News a woman who tried preventing the confiscation of the seized items was slapped by a member of the taskforce and this sparked the disorder. She alleged that the men attempted to shoot a fisherman but for the intervention of a fuel station attendant at the Harbour, who cautioned that the area was inflammable. “All we saw was that they had jumped onto the boat and carried a generator. So the men here enquired to know where they were taking the generator to. Then immediately they fired a warning shot. So one woman said she won’t allow them to take the generator away so she held firmed to the generator. Then they started pelting stones at us and we also replied. During the process, a stone hit the head of one of the officers. We asked government to ban light fishing but now we say we want it so they must allow us to use it. If the naval personnel do not stop harassing us we will face them just like we did today,” the fishmonger cautioned. The Naval officers, retreated to their base to reinforce the team, but did not return to the Harbour although the fishermen waited in readiness for battle. Lt. Alfred Martei, 2 Garrison Public Relations Officer, denied the fishermen’s claims that the task force members used undue force and acted unprofessionally. “Before the personnel of the task force could make away with the seized goods, some of the fishmonger started shouting and throwing items at them and the men al joined also joined and they threw stones and other metallic items which resulted in the injury of five naval personnel. Four of the personnel have open wounds and one is still receiving treatment”. He stressed: “We are not giving up. We are still going to go ahead to ensure that there is sanity in the fishing industry. As at now, investigation is still underway to know how to carry out such operations in future. The locals are part of us so we cannot say we are going to attack them. And had it not been the professional and tactical way our men carried out the operation, it could have resulted in the death or injury of some fishermen.” The Sekondi-Takoradi Mayor, Anthony Cudjoe (retd) who arrived at the scene following a distress call to his office, asked the fishermen to calm down and appealed to the navy to carry out the exercise in a civilized manner. This was not the first time he had intervened in such a situation. The fishermen have repeatedly told government to regulate the use of light for fishing rather than an outright ban.