Obervations on the commercial light fishing operation in Ghana.

Abstract

Light fishing operations (LFO) in Ghana is concentrated in the three major coastal municipalities of Greater Accra (Tema), Central (Mumford & Elmina) and Western (Sekondi) Regions; these areas have the port facilities for landing of the catch by the larger inshore vessels that operate the purse seine fishery in Ghana and which predominantly operate the light attraction. Currently there are about 250 registered inshore vessels in the country whose sizes range between 39 – 60 feet , only a small fraction are actually working at the moment due to problems with spare parts and operations. Light attraction is the technique of aggregating fish by artificial light; and light fishing is the process of fishing the attracted fish by hooking, gill-netting or by any other gear (P.P. Dinglasan, 1972). The light source may be by means of a fire torch, pressure kerosene lamp, gas lit lamp and battery or generator assisted incandescent lamp (FAO Training Series, 1988). Currently the light fishing operations in Ghana use mainly the purse seine gear with a small size generator powering the incandescent lamp. They are minimally mechanized using fish finders, a two-way radio for communication and a diesel driven winch drum to facilitate the search and hauling of the catch.