Fisher folks and canoe owners have appealed to insurance companies to extend their services to cover the fishing industry.
They argue that the long-held perception that fishing is too risky to insure is inaccurate and must be reconsidered.
According to the fisher folks, their work, though demanding, can be effectively insured if insurance companies understand the nature of their operations. The absence of insurance coverage has left many vulnerable during accidents, storms, and other unforeseen incidents at sea.
They are calling on insurance companies to engage them in open discussions to better appreciate the dynamics of the fishing business and explore suitable insurance packages to protect their livelihoods.
“We’re calling on insurance companies to come and engage us in discussions so they can better understand our fishing activities. Once they do, they’ll appreciate that insuring us is actually a worthwhile investment,” they said. “In fact, the value of our daily catch is often far higher than the claims insurance companies may have to pay, so the risk isn’t as high as they perceive.”
The appeal was made during a workshop on Fishing Safety Reporting Training for Journalists and Fisher folks, organized by Friends of the Nation, an environmental NGO, and partnered by ProSea Marine Education, under the auspices of the Marine SafeNet Ghana project.
Speaking exclusively in an interview, Western Regional Director of the Fisheries Commission, Dr. Charlce Teyi, acknowledged the importance of insuring fisher folks’ work. He encouraged insurance companies to develop policies safeguarding the industry and its workers.
“Most of the time, their concern is that they need to fix things like outboard motors, and they feel they don’t have anything reliable to depend on. We can actually value the canoes and use their cost to estimate insurance,” he explained.
“In collaboration with the Fisheries Commission, monitoring can be done. This issue has become a major challenge for our people whenever disasters occur. I appeal to insurance companies to engage us in discussions to find a good solution and ensure fair value for fisher folks,” he added.
