By Adnan Adams Mohammed, Financial and Resource Journalist
Against the odds of strict legislative prohibitions and repeated government warnings, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices are surging to catastrophic levels along Ghana’s coastline.
Nowhere is this crisis more visible than in the coastal communities of Ada, where the illicit use of high-intensity light aggregates and highly toxic chemicals is decimating marine ecosystems, plunging local fishers into poverty, and triggering an unfolding public health emergency.
Environmental advocates and marine experts are now calling on the government to declare the situation a national security crisis before the country’s marine fisheries collapse entirely.
The blinding lights at Ada
In Ada and surrounding fishing hubs, the ban on light fishing a destructive practice where fishermen lower high-powered generator-fueled bulbs into the water to attract massive schools of fish, including juveniles is being openly flouted.
“We go out at night and the sea looks like a city on its own because of the bright lights from these illegal operators,” said Nii Koblah, a local artisanal fisherman who has spent three decades on the water. “They take everything. They catch the mothers, they catch the babies. When we go out with our traditional nets during the day, the ocean is empty. They are killing our future.”
The practice completely disrupts the natural migratory and breeding patterns of marine species. By scooping up juvenile fish before they have a chance to reproduce, light fishers are effectively collapsing the foundation of Ghana’s small pelagic fish stocks, such as sardines and mackerel, which are vital for local food security.
“The law bans it, but enforcement on the high seas is practically non-existent,” noted Joseph Ocansey, an investigative journalist documenting the ecological fallout in Ada. “What we are witnessing is a lawless free-for-all that leaves law-abiding, traditional fishermen completely helpless.”
A deadly cocktail: The rise of chemical fishing
While light fishing hollows Ghana’s fish populations, an even more insidious threat is poisoning the waters: chemical fishing. Desperate for catches in depleted waters, some rogue operators have resorted to dumping toxic substances, including DDT, dynamite, and highly concentrated chemicals, directly into the ocean to stun and kill fish en masse.
Experts warn that this crosses the line from an environmental issue to a severe public health hazard and a threat to national human security.
“Chemical fishing must be treated as a national emergency,” stressed an environmental policy analyst advocating for maritime reforms. “When a fish is harvested using toxic chemicals, those poisons don’t disappear. They enter the human food chain. Every time a citizen buys contaminated fish in the market, they are ingesting carcinogens and toxins that damage organs and jeopardize public health.”
The economic toll is equally devastating. As catch rates plummet due to habitat destruction, local coastal economies are crumbling, driving higher rates of poverty and forcing young men to migrate or seek illicit livelihoods.
A call for aggressive state intervention
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) and the Fisheries Commission have previously instituted closed seasons to allow stocks to replenish. However, critics argue these temporary bans are useless if destructive, illegal practices resume the moment the season reopens.
Civil society organizations, local chiefs, and law-abiding fishing associations are demanding a centralized, militarized crackdown on both light and chemical fishing. They are calling for stricter naval patrols, severe judicial penalties for boat owners utilizing generators and chemical agents, and rigorous testing of fish at major landing beaches.
“We are fighting for our survival,” warned Naa Ayorkor, a prominent fish processor and vendor at a local market. “If the government does not stop the chemical and light fishers today, tomorrow there will be no fish for our children, no jobs for our youths, and only sickness in our communities. The sea is our life, and it is dying.”
As the degradation of Ghana’s maritime domain accelerates, the window for action is rapidly closing. Stakeholders agree that without immediate, uncompromising enforcement, the nation’s waters will soon be completely empty—leaving behind an ecological wasteland and a deeply compromised population.
