President of the National Inland Canoe Fishermen Council, Jacob Kabori Tetteh Ageke, has revealed the inland fisheries sector is being threatened by illegal mining activities, warning of imminent fish stock declines.
According to him, fisherfolk on the Black Volta in the Savannah region are chased away by illegal miners to allow them to mine on the water body.
Mr. Tetteh Ageke explains despite efforts to ward off the miners, they continue to ravage the water body.
The situation, he says, is denying the fishers their daily source of livelihood.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholder’ meeting in Kumasi on reviewing the new Fisheries Act.
“Some of the illegal miners are using weapons to make sure our people move out of the communities or around the Black Volta, the places where they mine, that is the Savannah and Banda areas. We are appealing to the authorities to make sure that the illegal miners leave for us to fish,” he said.
Mr. Tetteh Ageke highlighted that the devastation of the mining activities on the tributaries of the Volta Lake is causing widespread damage to the aquatic ecosystems and fish populations.
“The illegal mining is affecting us greatly. Because the Volta Lake is big you don’t really see the increasing turbidity. Seriously on the Black Volta all the way from the Savannah region on the Bui Lake to the Dam site all the way to Bamboi to Buipe, the water has changed,” he said.
He continued: “From the Eastern region, all the water bodies enter the Afram and ultimately into the Volta Lake. The fishes die in these water bodies before they enter the main lake, so the fish population is declining”.
The association wants the mining activities in areas far from fishing sites.
Meanwhile in the Ashanti region, aquaculture farmers in the Amansie East district are bemoaning the activities of illegal small-scale mining.
National Organizer of the Ghana National Aquaculture Association, Francis De-heer, says catfish farmers in the area are threatened by the miners to evacuate their site for the illegal activities.
“Catfish farming in parts of the Ashanti Region like the Amansie East, had prominent production but unfortunately, illegal mining activities are disrupting the thriving catfish farming in the country which seriously has to be checked,” he said.
Pressure is mounting on the government to ban small-scale mining as it has destroyed several natural resources in the country with imminent threats to food security and accessibility to potable water.