The third edition of the Fish Festival has opened in Accra.
The two day event will feature an exhibition of fish products and deliberations on promoting sustainable fisheries and aquaculture sector.
The theme for this edition is: ‘Promoting Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture for National Development’
The event which attracts not only fish farmers, fish processors and fish traders who had displayed a variety of fishes and fish products, the event also attracted dealers in fishing and fish farming materials such as fish feed, fishing nets among others.
At the stands of the Tuna Merchants Association, patrons were seen sampling more than 10 recipes of tuna, including tuna jollof, tuna salad, tuna yam balls among others.
Some patrons were also seen buying and packing fresh fish, smoked fish, fried fish and other fish products.
One of the main attractions at the exhibition was a giant fibre glass canoe painted yellow and blue and many of the patrons were seen watching it, taking pictures of it or posing to take a picture.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, said the fisheries sector had over the years contributed to the economic development of Ghana.
Fishing and its related activities, she said, were very challenging, hence the need to celebrate fishers.
The sector, she said, supported the livelihoods of more than three million Ghanaians along the fisheries and aquaculture value chain, with fish contributing 1.04 per cent to Ghana’s GDP in 2021.
The sector, she said, in spite of its significance had not achieved its full potential, “with poverty still high in many fishing communities in Ghana.
While the marine and inland fisheries resources were showing signs of full exploitation or over-exploitation, Mrs Koomson said aquaculture production was also constrained by factors such as limited access to good quality fingerlings, high cost of fish feed, inadequate funding for research and disease outbreaks.
That, she said, had led to Ghana importing quantities of fish to meet its domestic fish requirement, thereby putting pressure on the limited foreign reserves of the country.
The government, she said, was committed to sustainable management of the fisheries resources and development of the aquaculture industry for the benefit of current and future generations.
She said it was important to manage fisheries resources sustainably to ensure continuous contribution to socio-economic development of fishers and the nation.
She mentioned that the challenges confronting the sector include climate change, pollution of water bodies with plastic waste, illegal mining and illegal fishing practices which were all impacting negatively on the sector.
The Chief Executive Director of the Fisheries Commission, Fred Kwesi Antwi-Boadu, said the Fish Festival was first instituted in 2015 by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to primarily celebrate distinguished fishers and outstanding fishing communities for their support to socio-economic development.
The second edition was held in Anloga in the Volta Region.
This year’s edition, he said, was also to commemorate this year’s World Fisheries Day which is marked on November 22 each year.
A fishers’ clinic was organized to enable stakeholders to network and exchange knowledge and gain insight into opportunities available in the sector.