Ghana is considering marine culture- fish farming in the sea and community-based commercial fish farming to boost local fish production, improve food security and create jobs for the youth.

The initiative forms part of broader measures to address declining fish stocks and reduce the country’s dependence on fish imports.

Madam Emelia Arthur, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a regional workshop on advancing implementation of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) in Anglophone Africa in Accra.

“We are at a very dangerous point in terms of stock and enforcement. Government, working with stakeholders, will ensure that we restock and bring sanity into the sector,” she said.

Madam Arthur said overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, climate change, weak regulatory enforcement, high operational costs and inadequate infrastructure had contributed to declining fish stocks and widening production deficits.

She said national fish demand stood at about 1.2 million metric tonnes annually, while local production from marine fisheries, inland fisheries and aquaculture ranged between 600,000 and 700,000 metric tonnes, leaving a deficit of nearly 500,000 metric tonnes.

The Minister said marine culture, which had not previously been undertaken in Ghana, was being explored as a strategy to increase fish production and promote sustainable fisheries management.

She said Government had granted a provisional licence to Gold Coast Mariculture Limited for what was expected to become Ghana’s first mariculture project.

Fish accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the country’s animal protein intake.

Marine culture is being practised in countries including China, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Vietnam, Chile and the Philippines.

Information gathered by the GNA indicated that some private sector organisations had expressed interest in investing in the initiative, which aligns with Ghana’s blue economy strategy.

Dr Andrews Agyekumhene, a senior lecturer at the Department of Fisheries and Marine Sciences at the University of Ghana, described marine culture as a promising intervention capable of significantly increasing fish production.

“The private sector has the funds and expertise, while government develops the regulations and strict enforcement,” he stated.

Dr Agyekumhene said implementation could begin within two years if the necessary technical studies and policy frameworks were completed.

He said feasibility studies would be conducted in selected coastal areas in the Central Region, Ada and the Volta estuary to assess their suitability for marine fish farming.

The studies, he said, would examine water quality, habitat mapping, ecological sustainability, security and economic viability.

Dr Agyekumhene said continuous pollution from illegal mining and industrial effluent could undermine marine culture projects in some parts of the Western Region and Tema.

“The western region also has some good areas but that could also be destroyed if the galamsey continues at the current state,” he said.

Dr Agyekumhene said the initiative would complement efforts to restock depleted fisheries following the establishment of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area in the Greater Cape Three Points area of the Western Region.

The protected area, which covers over 700 square kilometres, is intended to restore depleted fish stocks and conserve biodiversity, including sharks, sea turtles and dolphins.