Thirty fishers and industry stakeholders drawn from Ghana's four coastal regions have undergone training under the maiden Small-Scale Fisheries Academy (SSF Academy) to promote dialogue and co-management in their fishing communities.

The two-day workshop brought together chief fishermen, canoe owners, fish processors, and officials of the Fisheries Commission to equip them with facilitation skills for community engagement and inclusive fisheries management.

The academy, organised by the SSF Academy and its partners, provides an avenue for fishers and other industry players to discuss challenges facing the sector and develop community-led solutions.

The lead facilitator, Madam Maua Fernanda Anaes, and Mr Anthony Acheampong, co-facilitator, took participants through how to establish local co-management structures, facilitate dialogue, and promote inclusive decision-making.

Opening the workshop, the Executive Director of the Fisheries Commission, Prof Benjamin Betey Campion, urged stakeholders to move beyond treating the symptoms of challenges in the fisheries sector to identify and eliminate their root causes.

He believed that addressing the underlying causes of the problems would ensure that limited investments produced lasting results for fishing communities.

Prof Campion described the training as timely, noting that effective facilitation skills would enable officers of the Fisheries Commission and community leaders to support co-management initiatives at the local level.

He encouraged participants to return to their communities and champion dialogues that would help improve sanitation at landing beaches, restore fish stocks, and enhance livelihoods.

Speaking on the rationale for the academy, Partnership Manager for Blue Ventures-Ghana and National Coordinator of the SSF Academy, Nana Kweigya, said the initiative sought to address challenges such as illegal fishing, pollution, and unsanitary conditions through community participation.

He said the academy was established through a partnership involving Blue Ventures, Mundus Maris, and the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG) to complement government efforts to restore fisheries resources and protect livelihoods.

In that regard, he explained that the academy employed inclusive adult learning methods and promoted peer learning, ensuring that men, women, youth and other actors in the fisheries value chain jointly identified challenges and developed practical local solutions.

Nana Kweigyah observed that the legal framework for fisheries co-management created an opportunity for fishing communities to participate in decision-making, stressing that effective dialogue at the community level was essential to achieving that objective.