illegal fishing

All galamsey equipment to be destroyed on-site - Minister
- According to him, “It is noted that since the commencement of the operation, the troops have destroyed a good deal of equipment including nine excavators, 127 changfans-machine platforms associated with mining equipment and one fuel pump.”
Unlike previous attempts to flush out illegal miners from Ghana’s water bodies and forest reserves, the government has announced that all equipment that will be seized under a new effort to end ‘galamsey’ will be destroyed on-site.
Call for urgent action to end 'saiko' to save the livelihoods of over 2.7 million Ghanaians
- Saiko is a severely destructive form of illegal fishing, where industrial trawlers target the staple catch of artisanal fishers and sell this fish back to local coastal communities at a profit. It threatens jobs and food security and endangers Ghana’s economy. It is also referred to as “Galamsey on the sea”.
Dear Mr. President,

We respectfully call upon you to issue an urgent directive to end “saiko” fishing, an illegality that is undermining your commendable efforts to protect the fishing industry that provides food security and livelihoods for over 2.7 million Ghanaians.
China does not condone illegal mining; Ball in our court
- Because it beats imagination that a foreigner, and for that matter a Chinese, will arrive in the country and the next day he is on his way to the deepest of our forests in one part of the country to prospect for gold.
The ball of illegal mining is squarely in our court and the clear admission by the Chinese envoy in Ghana last week said it all.
Chinese 'Queen of Ivory' jailed for 15 years in Tanzania
- On Tuesday, a Tanzanian court found Yang Feng Glan, 70, guilty of smuggling 860 elephant tusks that authorities say are worth $6.45 million.
A Chinese woman, nicknamed the 'Queen of Ivory' and thought to be one of Africa's most notorious traffickers, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, Tanzanian authorities told CNN.
Chinese: Beneficial owners of fishing trawlers - Research claims
- It also estimated that Ghana was currently losing between $14.4 million and $23.7 million annually in the trawl sector due to low licence fees, as well as the lack of enforcement of revenue for fisheries-related infringements.
Research in the country’s marine resources claims that nine out of every 10 fishing trawlers operating in the country are beneficially owned by Chinese corporations.
COCOBOD CEO alarmed over destruction of cocoa farms
- “The pits, which appeared to continue deep into the farm, were indicative of galamsey operations on the farm and that prompted the decision to stop to inspect that farm.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has expressed concern over the wanton destruction of cocoa farms by illegal miners at Osino in the Fanteakwa South District in the Eastern Region.
Exposed: Chinese-owned fishing vessel registered in Ghana filmed throwing away huge amounts of fish
- They also pointed out that recent figures show that nearly 60% of fish in Ghana is now imported, and the country has only one nationally owned trawler in operation: the remaining 75 are linked to Chinese ownership.
The unlawful activities of a commercial Chinese trawler in the fishing waters of Ghana has been exposed in an undercover video published by the website chinadialogueocean on YouTube.
Five Chinese illegal miners arrested at Amansie West
- On Friday, five Chinese nationals were arrested in a two-day operation in the district and have been handed over to the Obuasi district police command.
Illegal mining (galamsey) operations are continuing to soar especially in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti region despite efforts by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) to stop it.
Illegal Mining in Ghana: Photos show Yiwabra’s fall as locals and politicians stand by idly
- Illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey in the local parlance, continues to be a contagion that is largely spreading unchecked through many parts of the country, especially in rural communities.
Yiwabra, a community in the Aowin District of the Western North Region of Ghana, has fallen victim to the destructive activities of illegal miners with local, regional and national political leaders doing virtually nothing to help.
Kenya: Chinese imports 'driving fishermen to despair'
- Fish catches from Lake Victoria have plummeted by more than half over the past two decades, due to overfishing and pollution. Over the same period Kenya's population has doubled.
As the frozen fish defrosts under the hot Kenyan sun, fishmonger Mechak Juma prefers not to tell his customers that it has come all the way from China.
Killer nets: Depleting fish stocks in Ghana's waters
- “If saiko is happening on our waters, it is because the industrial vessels on our waters are using illegal nets to catch the small fishes,” said fisherman Kwame Amoah, 39.
Written By Zadok K. Gyesi - Under a brick-supported wooden shed at the edge of Cape Coast beach in the Central Region of Ghana, a group of fishermen gathered, some busily engrossed in draughts and other indoor games while others mended fishing nets.
Stop galamsey menace - Otumfuo charges minister
- He said the nation could not wait any longer in ensuring a complete elimination of the canker as that was the surest way to protect the nation’s natural resources and water bodies.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has charged the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, to take bold step to stem the menace of illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
The impact of threats to ban importation of cocoa from Ghana by EU
- Certainly, it is becoming clear that activities of illegal small-scale miners are threatening the survival of our dear nation which depends largely on cocoa exports apart from gold and other minerals to provide basic infrastructural development in the country.
Written By By Charles Neequaye - The European Union (EU) has threatened to ban the importation of cocoa from Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire due to massive illegal small-scale mining activities in cocoa-growing areas within the two countries. The threat from the EU was conveyed by the Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control, Dr Samuel Agyeman Dwomoh, to participants at the recent National Consultative Dialogue on Illegal Mining in Accra. He told the meeting that, Ghana currently exports about 80 percent of cocoa to the EU market, and the ban if implemented, would not auger well for the country’s cocoa industry. Those illegal mining activities, he said, were eroding the gains made by COCOBOD and called on the participants to help address the phenomenon as far as the extension of galamsey into the country’s forest areas was concerned.