Aquaculture is major source of livelihood and employment for many Ghanaian households (Ragasa et al., 2022). Fig 1 below indicates that Ghana has experienced significant growth in aquaculture production over the last decade. Main factors accounting for this growth include introduction of improved ‘Akosombo strain’ of Nile tilapia, government interventions within the sector such as, support for establishment of local feed production companies, and from the private sector, establishment of large-scale commercial cage production on the Volta Lake that has revolutionized aquaculture in Ghana. These large-scale farms contribute 90 percent of the total production share (Amenyogbe et al., 2018).
The two dominant fish species cultured in Ghana are the Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) and African Catfish (Clarias spp.), with tilapia by far the dominant specie. In recent years however, the production of Catfish has seen significant growth (See Fig 1B) due to rising consumer demand.
The improved Akosombo strain is the only legally approved improved tilapia strain released to farmers in Ghana under the tilapia seed breeding program. Since 2005 the breeding program has stalled and Akosombo strain has remained in its 10th generation since (Quoc et al., 2021). To remain competitive and produce larger and faster growing fish, many farmers have found illicit means to introduce exotic strains of tilapia into the Ghanaian aquaculture sector. These exotic strains are purported to be fast growing and attain larger sizes at harvest — this has led to the incidence of diseases into the country as well unregulated use of drugs such as antibiotics by some farmers. Many key industry players are of the view that it is the unregulated introduction of exotic fish strains (See Anane-taabeah et al., 2019) that led to incidence of diseases and mass mortality of cultured fish in 2018 and 2019 (See Fig 1).
To address issue of introducing exotic species or strains for culture, several experts from policy and regulatory organizations were brought together in two stakeholder workshops: the first stakeholder workshop was held on March 1 – 2, 2023 and second stakeholder workshop was held on May 3 - 4, 2023. This project led by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) under the Resilient Aquatic Food Systems Initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) and the Fisheries Commission (FC) sought to develop guidelines to regulate importation of exotic fish species and strains as well as develop code of practice to guide activities of aquaculture establishment in Ghana.
developing guidelines for introduction of exotic fish into Ghana, had become necessary because fish farmers are demanding exotic fishes to farm due to their fast-growing nature and large sizes attained at harvest.
The workshop was held at the University of Development Studies Guest House in Accra. There were 32 participants (20 males and 12 females) on the first day (3rd May 2023) and 34 participants (21 males and 13 females) on the second day (4th May 2023). The participants comprised experts and stakeholders from Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD), Fisheries Commission (FC), Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR-WRI), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), University of Development Studies (UDS), University of Ghana- Legon, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Ghana Aquaculture Association, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
The objective of the workshop was to review and validate the draft protocols developed during the first workshop. During discussions, the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Hon. Moses Anim mentioned that Section 52, subsection 5 of the law governing the fisheries sector in Ghana states that “The Commission shall not allow exotic species to be introduced in fish farming unless the Commission has adequate knowledge of the biology and life history of the species indicating low risk and has granted permission to be introduced”. Therefore, the National Management and Guidelines for Introduction of Exotic (fish) in Ghana being developed lies within the ambits of the law and is in the right direction to implement the aquaculture laws in Ghana.
During the workshop, discussions were held how to develop programs and materials to raise awareness on exotic fish in Ghana among stakeholders. The participant proposed several steps to enable the achievement of this goal.
- Identify priority audience and primary stakeholders.
The major stakeholders or priority audience for awareness on exotic fish in Ghana include the following: Fish Farmers Association, Fish farmers, MoFAD, FC and associates, Academics in fish, fisheries and aquatic biodiversity, fish handlers, fish marketers cum traders and the public as utilizers.
- Material for creating messages to increase awareness on exotic fish in Ghana.
Currently, major materials considered necessary to create and increase awareness on exotic fish in Ghana are:
- Photographs/pictures of native and exotic fishes
- Line diagrams of exotic fish and their native ‘relatives’
- Old textbook line drawings enlarged.
The pictures would have to be taken as precisely as possible and the line drawings done to scale as much as possible. The fish pictures and line drawings appropriately done, could be used to create awareness at different levels of the audience. For example, while general appearance and proportions of fish parts to each other’s may be used to differentiate natives and exotics and possibly their hybrids to fish farmers and fishers, the same characteristics when measured and some meristic could be used for technical personnel. Appropriate human resources will be required for development and dissemination of awareness creation messages.
- Messages and approaches for creating and increasing awareness on exotic fish.
To create and increased awareness on exotic fishes of stakeholders identified above, would involve, and include the following:
- Identify objectives and activities to obtain them (objectives)
- Identify specific audience and their locality to be addressed
- Identify language and approach to use
- Identify specific communication aids (audio-visuals applicable)
- Exotic fish species and strains management.
General management of exotic fish species and or strains imported into Ghana for use in aquaculture would require development of partnerships for management activities and funding support at local and international levels. Guidelines or strategies for development of the partnerships would have to be provided by consultant(s) who recommend importation of exotics.
In his closing remarks, Hon. Moses Anim expressed gratitude on behalf of the Minister, the Ministry and FC to all partners and stakeholders who attended the workshop and are providing expertise for the National Aquaculture Code of Practice and Guidelines, and the National Management and Guidelines for Introduction of Exotic (fish) in Ghana to be developed and adopted. He said the development of both documents is grounded in law (Aquaculture Regulations of Ghana LI 1968, section 53, subsection 3), which stated that “The Commission may approve plans if it meets the requirements in the National Aquaculture Guidelines or any relevant guidelines that the Commission may approve”. He further indicated that the guidelines do not need to be sent to parliament so long as it is approved by the Commission.
Finally, some government agencies used the opportunity to inform participants about some new developments within the sector. It was noted that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) in collaboration with Ministry of Fisheries have developed Fish Safe Certification and Licensing Scheme to improve upon post-harvest handling and management.
In terms of the next steps, the two protocols have been reviewed and accepted by the Ministry and the Fisheries Commission. The ministry through stakeholder engagements will make the documents publicly available to guide the conduct of activities in the fisheries sector in Ghana where the Fisheries Commission will be the implementing agency.
References
Amenyogbe, E., Chen, G., Wang, Z., Lin, M., Lu, X., Atujona, D., & D Abarike, E. (2018). A Review of Ghanas Aquaculture Industry. Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development, 09(08). https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9546.1000545
Anane-taabeah, G., Frimpong, E. A., & Hallerman, E. (2019). Aquaculture-Mediated Invasion of the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) into the Lower Volta Basin of Ghana. Diversity, 11(188), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11100188
Quoc, T., Koranteng, S., Ling, H., Benzie, J. A. H., & Attipoe, F. K. Y. (2021). Performance evaluation of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) improved strains in Ghana. Aquaculture, 530, 735938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735938
Ragasa, C., Agyakwah, S. K., Asmah, R., Mensah, E. T. D., Amewu, S., & Oyih, M. (2022). Accelerating pond aquaculture development and resilience beyond COVID: Ensuring food and jobs in Ghana. Aquaculture, 547(October 2020), 737476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737476