The Western Naval Command is investigating reports that some fishermen were threatened at gunpoint by a group of naval officers who compelled them to dump their dead fishes into the sea. According to the fishermen, the officers gave no reasons for their action. Members of the Government Task Force mainly made up of naval officers have in recent times had unhealthy confrontations with local fishermen in their quest to enforce the laws that prohibit fishing methods such as the use of light for fishing. In the latest incident, the fishermen from Sekondi who had taken their expedition to Half-Assini close to the Ivory Coast, say they were given a hot chase at sea by a boat full of naval officers at about 2:30 am last Wednesday. They alleged that one of the officers pulled a gun at them forcing them to dump all their catch back into the sea. According to them, they dumped all their 40 pieces of tuna fish into the sea. The fishermen say they are at loss as to what crime they had committed because hook and line fishing is considered one of the environmentally friendly fishing methods. One of the fishermen told Maxx News one of them nearly drowned after he fell off the canoe due to the pressure from the navy officers’ speedboat which crashed their boat during the chase. “We were returning from our fishing expedition when the navy officers stopped us. When we stopped, they seized our hook and other things. They also asked us to dump our catch into the sea and we did it after they had pulled a gun on our leader. It was about 2:35am and we were six in the boat but the navy officers were many. We dumped about 40 pieces of tuna into the sea. And one of that costs a GHS100 so that’s about GHS4, 000,” he said. “We have never had this experience at sea. We don’t know why they did that because we always fish along that route and sometimes we come across the navy officers who allow us to fish. Even if they had asked us for fish, we would have given them” he added. Although the Navy is yet to confirm the claims of the fishermen, Lt. Alfred Martei, 2 Garrison Public Relations Officer, says preliminary investigations have revealed that the men were fishing in a restricted Zone, an area close to some oil installations. “We spoke to the alleged victims and they accepted the fact that they did a wrong thing by fishing close to the areas that they have been advised not to fish. And that was close to some of the onshore installations and the rigs. Currently we have initiated an investigation to find out what really happened because the story from the fishermen and our men are quite different. We have our ways of dealing with such issues” he explained. Various fishermen groups in Sekondi have condemned the action, describing the navy’s approach as highhanded. A Non-Governmental Organisation, based in the Western Region, Friends of the Nation, has also condemned the Navy’s actions.