The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Hon Elizabeth Aforley Naa Quaye has given firm assurances of the ministry’s commitment towards improving fish production in the country.
According to her, the ministry is therefore set to launch the ‘Aquaculture For Food And Jobs’ in 2018 as part of the government’s mother policy of ‘Planting for Food and Jobs.’
Hon Aforley speaking during the 33rd National Farmers Day Celebration in Kumasi on the 1st of December said, the ministry has sunk substantially investment in the sector with aquaculture being the flagship program.
This, she indicated is to help bridge the National Fish Requirement Gap.
The fisheries minister further disclosed that substantial investment had been done in the sector to help produce enough to supplement the industry.
“Additional investment is being channeled into the industry to produce hundred thousand tonnes of farmed fish by 2018 to complement the fish supply,” she noted.
Honourable Afoley furher urged the public against contaminating the country’s water bodies with plastic waste.
“All of us must desist from the habit of desecrating our rivers, ponds and the sea with plastic waste since the pressure and bottomless and monumental treasures would be lost,” she charged.
Shw aadded it is only when the water bodies are safe that the country can invest in them and reap the benefits.
She further noted that fish feed is the single most important cost component for the fish farming business and to improve the fish feed supply situation, the ministry has facilitated the construction of forty thousand metric tonnes of feed mill at Akuse in the Eastern region in the Lower Manya Municipality. This she said will bring the total national production of fish feed to 100,000 metric tonnes annually.
Source: Austin Ofori/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
