The 230 nets made up of 200 pieces of monofilament nets and 30 pieces of traw nets and valued at over 3million Ghana cedis were burnt at the Kpone landfill site on Tuesday July 11, 2017.

Addressing the media prior to the burning, Mr. Joseph Yeboah, Assistant Director at the Fisheries Commission explained that the nets which were all seized at the marine side were either smaller or not allowed by law for marine use.

According to him, the size of the seized traw nets were smaller than the approved 60mm and above size while monofilament nets are not allowed at all for marine fishing, and that was why they were deemed illegal and seized.

The arreast and seizer according to Mr.Yeboah was done by the Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU) comprising the Ghana Marine Police, Ghana Navy and the Fisheries Commission, adding that offenders were duely prosecuted and fined. The destruction of the seized nets therefore was an order from the court.
Some of the areas where the arrest took place included Kokrobite, Winneba, Ada, Tema Canoe Beach, Keta among others.

Monofilament nets

For 2017, Mr. Yeboah disclosed that 6 trawlers were arrested, out of which four were fined one million dollars each according to the new review of fines while the other two cases are pending adjudication.   

Head of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Division of the Fisheries Commission, Godfrey Baidoo Tsibu said as mandated by law, the Fisheries Commission will continue to work to regulate the fisheries resources by ensuring that the laws governing the sector are obeyed.

 
1. Illegal traw net                                           2. Approved traw net

He added that the essence of the destruction is to serve as deterrent to others that the law frowns on the use of such illegal nets and other equipments, hence there are consequences when one is caught using such nets including seizure, destruction and heavy fines ranging from 50 penalty units to 250 penalty units.