The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, has given the assurance that the Legislative Instrument (LI) setting up the Fisheries Commission (FC) would soon be given legal backing.

He observed that the absence of the LI had prevented the commission from carrying out its mandate, a situation that he described as not championing the cause of the fisheries sector.

Dr Alhassan said this when a group from Jubilee Radio, a private radio station based in Keta, led by its Chief Executive, Reverend Joseph Adika, went to dialogue with the members of the select committee on the enforcement of the fishing laws in southern Volta.

The group had since 2006 initiated a dialogue with members of the committee with the aim of establishing a Fisheries Commission to replace the now disbanded ministry responsible for fisheries, and address the needs of stakeholders in the fisheries sector.

A consultant to the group, Mr Lord-Lucas Vodzi, said given the new membership of the committee, it was imperative to expose the new members to the committee’s work, as well as remind old ones of the need to continue the dialogue from where they ended, prior to the polls.

The group’s concern, according to Mr Vodzi, was among other things, to know the role and composition of the FC, its location as well as the actions it had taken so far.

He entreated the committee to ensure that district assemblies in the country enforced bylaws to protect the interest of members of the fishing community.

He said Jubilee Radio at the initial stages held series of sensitisation programmes with communities along the coast on best fishing practices after which a regional stakeholder forum involving officials from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, chief fishermen, fish mongers and other interest groups was organised.

Mr Vodzi stressed the need to establish a task force for districts along the coast to enforce good environmental and fishing laws.

Responding, Dr Alhassan assured the group that Parliament was committed to ensuring that the law setting up the FC was implemented and added that the concerns of the group would be factored into the day-to-day deliberations of the committee.

He said the government’s initiative to deploy the ecobrigade was in response to the need to ensure that environmental sanitation was upheld.

A member of the committee, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, urged the group to collaborate with other interest groups to make their voices heard.

Other members of the committee; the MPs for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa and Anlo, Messrs P.C. Appiah Ofori and Mr Kofi Humado, respectively supported the concerns of the group but Mr Appiah Ofori expressed his conviction that the issues needed presidential attention to give it the needed impetus.

Mr Humado, for his part, stated that MPs along the coast had raised various concern on bad fishing practices and expressed the hope that when, the FC became fully operational, such practices would be a thing of the past.

Daily Graphic/DS