Ghana needs overhaul of fisheries management – Mr Amarfio

Mr Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, the Executive Director, Blue Economy and Governance Consult, has called for an urgent overhaul of Ghana's fisheries resource management.Speaking at media forum by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority's (GPHA), he noted that the fisheries resource management must be done from a natural resource perspective instead a food and agriculture perspective, to pay critical attention to habitat conservation.Plastic pollution, illegal mining (galamsey), and other practices had become the main cause of habitat degradation in Ghana's fisheries resources, he said.Mr Amafio, also a fisheries industry expert, said water bodies in the Western Region, particularly areas that took their source from the Pra and Ankobra rivers, were polluted.It was impossible to separate management of water resources from that of fisheries, as fish relied on water for survival, he said, calling on the Government to stamp its authority on the issue to preserve the integrity of Ghana's water bodies.Mr Ama rfio, the vice president of the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG), also raised concerns over the disconnect between policymakers and the real challenges faced by fisheries sector stakeholders, describing it as a major challenge.He bemoaned the political influences and partisanship in the sector, as it posed major obstacles to fisheries management in Ghana.Source: Ghana News Agency