The Ghana Canoe Fishermen Council wants sector authorities to conduct thorough investigations into circumstances that led to the death of tons of fish along the shores of some beaches in the country.

Some fish were found along the shores of the Osu Castle beach on Friday. This attracted many residents, some of whom picked them up either for consumption or for sale.

Similarly, over 80 mammals believed to be melon-headed whales were washed ashore at the Axim-Bewire beach in the Nzema East Municipality on Sunday, April 4, 2021.

The acting President of the Ghana Canoe Fishermen Council, Nana Jojo Solomon, in a Citi News interview said “It is good that the EPA has commenced investigations. The fishing department should also be part of it. I will attribute it to some illegal fishing methods, but until we find out the actual cause, we cannot really tell. So let’s have thorough investigations to find out the root cause, and then we can take it from there.”

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA says it has commenced investigations.

Although the agency suspects the dead fish are not good for consumption, it stated that it cannot confirm until tests are conducted.

Executive Director of the Agency, Henry Kokofu, told Citi News that his outfit is picking up additional information from some opinion leaders to help with its investigation.

“We’ve contacted an opinion leader who has been giving us more information. Trust me, If there is any situation like that we will take steps to track all of them as quickly as possible. But if there is anyone listening who has any information on how this issue came about, that person should contact us. We are using opinion leaders to gather pieces of information,” he added.

The Fisheries Ministry has also said its team has picked up samples from the beach for its investigations into the issue.

Source: citifmonline