Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing agro sectors in Ghana which continues to significantly expand its production.
However, the sustainability of the sector is at stake due to the predicted effects of climate change that are not only a future, but also a present reality.
Fish production provides nutritional, commercial, ecological, and societal benefits to many countries including Ghana. However, fish health and management have not been fully exploited and understood for sustainable production.
Most aquaculture farmers in Ghana are purported to have fish mortality as high as 75 to 85 percent after stocking with fingerlings. Fish disease problems constitute the largest single cause of economic losses in aquaculture.
Fish mortality has received insufficient attention as fish welfare in the country by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to provide the necessary support to fish farmers. Mortality in farmed fish populations is due to a variety of biotic and abiotic causes, although it is often difficult to differentiate between underlying and immediate causes of mortality.
Most mortality appears to occur during incidents associated with disease outbreaks and critical periods in development or production. Most causes of mortality can be assumed to be associated with suffering before death. As mortality rates in farmed fish populations are suspected to rank amongst the highest in commonly farmed vertebrate species, mortality should be a principal fish welfare issue.
The aquaculture sector is projected to have lost about 50 million Dollars in the past five years due to the challenges faced by the sector and the slow response by the government to fished farmers has reduced production.
Ghana’s new Aquaculture Development Plan aims to increase fish farming output from about 89,000 tons in 2021 to about 200,000 tons in 2027 but this may not be achieved in due time due to the challenges in the sector, the disease remains a record holder in causing the setback in the industry for close to five years.
In view of this, fish farmers at Joma in the Weija-Gbawa Municipality of the Greater Accra region of Ghana have raised concern over the high rate of fish mortalities which according to them are caused by various elements of a changing climate, such as rising temperatures, diseases, and harmful algal blooms, changes in rainfall patterns, and severe climatic.
Speaking in an interview with the Herald Newspaper at Joma, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Rigif Fish Farm, Richard Amebor, one of the Fishing Companies at Joma, speaking about challenges hindering the smooth operation of the fish business in the area,noted that problems associated with handling fish, water quality, algal blooms, temperature changes, parasite infections, extreme weather events, disease or parasite treatments and feed quality can all lead to stress, disease, and ultimately the death of fish before harvesting.
“When ever there is a down pour, the oxygen levels in the fish ponds reduces and thus affects the fish, resulting in deaths running into huge losses in money which are often irrecoverable,” he added.
He also indicatedmajor challenge facing fished farming is the high cost of fingerlings and the rising cost of ingredients such as maize and soya has resulted in the sector relying heavily on imports to enable them to produce feed for their fish accounting for the high cost of fish in the markets.
According to the CEO of Rigif Fish Farm, Mr. Amebor, the absence of subsidy for the aquaculture sector is not making the business attractive saying; with the right interventions from the government and other individuals, the sector could create more jobs for people.
He, therefore,appealed to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to subsidize the cost of feed for fish farmers adding that this would reduce the cost of feeding the fish and help the farmers to produce in large quantities to meet the fish requirements of the country and create employment for the youth.
Mr. Ameborcalled for the adequate resourcing of Extension Officers of the Fisheries Ministry to carry out their work effectively by supporting fish farmers with the requisite knowledge of fish farming.
Explaining further, he said due to the unmotorable nature of the road network, vehicles conveying fish feed from Tema to Joma, often get broken down, causing inconveniences and often times, resulting in additional costs because other means of transportation are deployed to cart the feed to its final destination.
Also vehicles conveying goods (fish) purchased by customers from the business premises to their various destinations getsbroken down frequently due to the deployable nature of the road.
“I would like to use your platform to appeal to the government and other well meaningGhanians as well as stakeholders to support the Joma community with tared roads,” he added.
