Science, research, and institutional capacity must be given preeminence in Ghana’s efforts at reversing the negatives and re-setting its blue economy as a major lead to economic recovery.
Mr Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, the Executive Director of the Blue Economy and Governance Consult, said to achieve that goal, the country needed to effectively collaborate with key research institutions to build credible data on the major pillars of the blue economy.
He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in commemoration of the 2024 World Fisheries Day, which is celebrated annually on November 21.
“Collaborative Governance for Blue Transformation and Sustainable Investment in Fisheries” is the theme for this year’s celebration.
Mr Amarfio, also the Vice President of the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG), said Ghana was yet to access the full potential of its blue space.
“Coming from a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), in Cyprus, we are exposed to the very potential that the blue space holds, particularly the fisheries sector.”
Mr Amarfio said the sector contributed significantly to employment, health, social cohesion, and food security.
“Ghana now more than ever needs to develop a Marine Sensitivity Mapping tool, build its marine reserves, and map out its Marine Protected Areas,” he stated.
“There is also the need for Marine Spatial Plan, which is properly documented with effective feed-in programmes that ensure support for marine life.”
He indicated that the need to immediately bring institutions together for collaborative work could not be overemphasised.
Institutions such as the Regional Maritime University, the University of Cape Coast, and the University of Ghana with fisheries and marine environmental interests must be made central in policy formulation and decision-making.
Mr Amarfio said state agencies such as the Fisheries Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and Ghana Maritime Authority, must be made to work together.
“Probably the need for a Blue Economy Commission should be a major issue engaging policy attention,” he noted.
The NAFAG Vice President expressed worry over how the country had treated its water bodies, as “we have and continue to treat our ocean and other aquatic resources with absolute disregard.”
“We have demonstrated our abilities to destroy these important gifts of nature without adequate consideration for future generations.”
Ghana, rather than collaborating to build a resilient blue economy, has allowed activities such as illegal mining in water bodies to destroy most of the riverine system, culminating in further pollution of the ocean space, Mr Amarfio said.
The country’s estuaries and brackish systems, he noted, had become the recipients of all manner of waste, as it was considered the sink of all waste, where domestic and industrial loads and sewers enter the ocean “using such beautiful lagoons.”
GNA
