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Petty Officer One Eric Akita, Ghana Navy Detachment at Kpando Torkor, has called on fishermen who ply the Volta Lake to desist from using their fishing boats to convey passengers to avoid accidents.

He said the practice was one of the main reasons behind the frequent incidents of boats capsizing on the Lake.

He said since the small boats used in the operation were not designed to be used as passenger boats and carry heavy loads, weather vagaries usually forced such boats to capsize.

Mr Akita made the call at a Zonal Multi-Stakeholder Platform meeting in Kpando for Inland Zone organised for key stakeholders in the industry such as IUU Community Monitoring Groups (CMGs), Fisheries Commission Officers, traditional leaders, fisher folks, Kpando Municipal Assembly, the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union, Ghana Inland Fishermen Canoe Association and Fisheries Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Navy.

It was organised by the FAR BAN BO Project, an NGO tasked to protect the livelihoods of fishers in Ghana with support from the European Union (EU).

He said the Navy had noticed that most fishermen converted their fishing boats into passenger boats after dwindling fishing fortunes in the industry on the Lake.

Mr Akita admonished residents of the Kpando Municipality to put a stop to sandwinning activities along the shores of the Lake as perpetrators would be dealt with accordingly to the laws.

Mr. Stephen Anane, Kpando Torkor Project Officer, FAR BAN BO called on farmers who farmed along the Volta Lake to be extra careful when adding chemicals to their crops as it could contaminate or poison fish in the Lake.

He said most fishes laid their eggs close to the shoreline of the Lake and that the chemicals posed danger to the species.

Mr. Anane said the FAR BAN BO project was a four-year programme which began in 2017.