The Secretary of the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG), Mr. Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio has indicated that despite the successes that have been chalked in the fisheries sector in Ghana, a lot more needs to be done in order to build a robust industry.
Speaking on Eye on Port on the state of Ghana’s fisheries industry, he stated that the sector can work to feed the entire population in terms of providing fish to fill in the protein needs of individuals, hence, the need for government to pay attention to the sector.
He urged the government to consider introducing new initiatives like mariculture such as shrimping in the mangroves and brackish waters to boost the employment status and relieve the sector which caters for about 10% of the employment in the country.
Mr. Amarfio said the fish value in Ghana is so low, hence, fishermen need to harvest so much in order to break even explaining that such a situation is not good for conservation.
“What we need is to concentrate on value addition and increasing shelf life and I think that is where investment should be focused,” he said.
Mr. Amarfio emphasized that the sector needs people who will think beyond “fisherman landing fish, selling and going home” to carefully drive it to its potential capacity.
Touching on some challenges faced by the sector, he said, “we have few fish with many canoes and vessels chasing them all over the place”. He stated that it was one of the major reasons why they have issues with illegality within the sector as there is a battle for the survival of the fittest.