Government, has through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and the Fisheries Commission, placed a ban on fishing activities for the month of August 2018.
 The move, according to the Ministry, is to ensure that pregnant fish are able to give birth and feed properly on the chlorophos that would be supplied during the season.
The exercise, dubbed ‘Close Season’, is expected to begin on August 1 and end on August 31, when all activities on the sea by the fisher folks would be suspended.
Fishing would, however, resume in September.
Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture development, Francis Ato Cudjoe speaking to journalists on Tuesday, explained that the degree of depletion of the coastal belt requires some drastic action to be taken such as the ban on fishing.
"We are placing a ban on fishing. We have gotten to a hostile point that we have decided that we are going to close the sea to all forms of fishing activities in the month of August 2018.", he announced.
According to the minister, a committee with representatives from Fisheries sector, have been in the boardroom for the past four years and they eventually advised that for a successful Close Season to be achieved, “the best time to do it is August,†the peak of the fishing season.
Mr. Cudjoe explained that the fish are able to come out to eat and as they eat, they carry a lot of eggs and in August, they lay the eggs and they become fingerlings in the season.
He said one fish would give a minimum of 70, 000 fingerlings and some of them can even give about 10 million, so a single pregnant fish that a fisherman can catch today has a potential of giving some 10 million fish, hence the decision to implement the Close Season concept.
“So we want to place a ban on fishing in August when fish get pregnant and respond, eat properly to get the fingerlings to be able to replenish the fish stock,†he said.
The decision to place a ban on fishing has however not been fully embraced by fisherfolk especially in Greater Accra Region.
President of the Farmers and Fishermen Association of Ghana, speaking on Accra FM, has opined that the ban will negatively affect fishermen and further worsen their economic plight.
“Farmers are going to suffer following this decision. How do you expect them to feed their families and pay for the fees of their children?†he asked.
“I think proper measures should be introduced to streamline activities of fishermen in the country and not a ban on their activities,†he stated.