AN acquaculture project is to take off this year in the Volta Region with funding from the World Bank with the view to assisting fishermen to increase earnings for sustainable livelihood.
Fishermen will be given credit facilities to undertake their projects and are expected to pay back after harvesting.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of fisheries, Nii Amasa Namoale, announced this at a regional durbar of chief fishermen and directors of the ministry in Ho.
He threatened to dissolve all landing beach committees in the region because they could not account for proceeds from the sale of premix fuel.
According to him, the committees are expected to use 53 per cent of profits from the sale of premix fuel for community development but none of the committees in the Volta Region has been able to undertake any community project unlike their counterparts in other regions.
Nii Namoale reminded beneficiaries of outboard motors to pay back the cost of the motors to enable others to benefit from the scheme.
He announced that all regulations governing the fisheries sector had been gazetted as law and that all those who would violate the law would be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said the use of bamboo in harvesting fish or the use of unauthorised nets in fishing destroyed generations of fish because it led to the trapping of pregnant fishes.
The deputy minister also warned against the use of light, carbide and explosives in fishing, as well as pair trawling, adding that they were illegal fishing methods that had been gazetted under the law.
In a welcoming address, the regional director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr John Tsrakasu, urged participants to abide by laid down regulations of the sector and asked them to utilise resources supplied to them judiciously and transparently in order to make the industry profitable.
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