An assessment of Ghana’s fisheries governance landscape by the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) and the Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa (CEMLAWS Africa) has identified transparency gaps in the nation’s marine fisheries sector.
The latest Taking Stock Transparency Assessment report which was launched recently in Accra, Ghana, said handlers of the sector have not been proactive in putting out updated, accurate and easily accessible information online for public consumption.
The findings show that Ghana performs poorly in transparency when it comes to its marine fisheries sector with next to little public access to fisheries data, although the data exist.
To rectify the situation, stakeholders at the report launch unanimously pushed for Ghana to join the Fisheries Transparency Initiative to deepen information access across its marine fisheries value chain for sustainability.
“This is a wake-up call for us to join the Fisheries Transparency Initiative. The ministry has taken note of the gaps and recommendations outlined in the report and will take steps to address them,” said Moses Anim, the deputy minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.
He also called on FiTI, CEMLAWS Africa and Bloomberg Philanthropies to help Ghana implement the report recommendations.
The purpose of the study, according to Sven Biermann, the executive director of FiTI, was to lead Ghana’s fisheries sector on a gradual upward trend towards transparency and sustainable development.
“At the end of the day, why we need public access to information is to contribute to the better governance of fisheries,” he said.
“Obviously, this cannot happen if one side does not have access to information to understand what is exactly happening,” he added.
The Fisheries Transparency Initiative is an international multi-stakeholder effort that provides a unique global framework to help coastal countries to increase the credibility and quality of national fisheries information towards the sustainability of marine fisheries.
Despite some vibrancy having been injected in Ghana’s Fisheries sector in recent years, the sector is still believed to lack the adequate level of transparency desired to lead the country on a path of social, environmental and economic prosperity and sustainability.
Team Lead at the Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS) Africa, Dr. Kamal Deen-Ali, is of the view that addressing the transparency gaps would require a certain level of digital infrastructure to be able to provide adequate access to information.
He said: “Our government must provide the requisite digital infrastructure to host the information and to make it available. It requires a certain level of technical expertise or personnel to be dedicated to the job of making information available.
Again, it may require some recruitment, some refresher training and certain level of expertise at the Ministry and the Fisheries commission so that can happen.”