The Minister in a group photograph with participants
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, in collaboration with the West African Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP), has opened a five-day residential training programme on Tilapia and Catfish Hatchery operations for 100 fishermen.
The training programme, which is the third in the series, opened on Monday at the Aquaculture Research and Development Centre (ARDEC) of the Council for Scientific Research and Industrial Research’s Water Research Institute located at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.
It is being attended by 100 small-scale fish farmers across the country.
Addressing participants at the opening session, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, indicated that the programme formed part of the ministry’s efforts to build the capacity of the fishermen to boost fish production locally.
“Though small-scale fish farmers in the country are over 95% of the population of the fish farmers in the country, their total fish production per anum is less than 20% of the annual aquaculture production,” she disclosed.
Inadequate capital for investment for aquaculture operations, managerial and technical inability on the part of the farmers, high costs of the construction of ponds and attrition rates among others account for the shortfall.
She gave assurance that the ministry would put measures in place to resolve them.
The Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Krowor constituency in Accra and doubles as queenmother for Dzelokope in the Volta Region, lauded WARFP for discharging its duties effectively to help revamp the fishing industry in Ghana through donor funding.
Dr Kwabena Kankam-Yeboah, Director of CSIR-Water Research, indicated that the Fishery and Aquaculture Division of the CSIR-WRI has championed many technical aspects of aquaculture development in the country.
The Director of Fisheries Commission, Emmanuel Aryee, said that the country has significant fish stock.
He reiterated the need to make ARDEC relevant as a research institution to meet the needs of players in the industry.
By Solomon Ofori