By Laudia Sawer
Tema, June 14, GNA – Mr Kyei Kwadwo Yamoah, the Convenor for the Fisheries Alliance has called for collective action by stakeholders to protect the world’s oceans and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) 14 “Life Below Water”.
Mr Yamoah who is also the Director of Nsemkafo Consult, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema.
He stressed on the World Oceans Day, which is celebrated on June 08 annually, with this year’s theme being “Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing,” that there was an urgent need to support efforts at protecting the oceans and raising awareness of the damage that was being done to them as well as the fish populations.
World Oceans Day is observed to raise global awareness about the importance of the ocean in the lives of humans and the ways through which it could be protected.
He said: “It is a collective duty to participate and contribute to protecting and preserving our shared ocean, each of us has a role to play.”
Mr Yamoah said players in the sector have realized that the sustainable management of ocean resources requires collaboration across borders and sectors through a variety of partnerships.
He said the Alliance, welcomed all stakeholders to partner with them on the Sustainable Oceans Agenda, adding that there was the need for people to cherish and protect the ocean and the entirety of our blue planet
Touching on the theme, he acknowledged that indeed the tides were changing, and countries needed to sustainably use their ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.
He said the development approach should be to promote economic opportunities, as well as protecting and developing of more intangible ‘blue’ resources such as traditional ways of life, carbon sequestration and coastal resilience to help vulnerable communities mitigate the devastating effects of poverty and climate change.
Mr Yamoah indicated that promotion of environmental and ecological sustainability of the use of our ocean resources was very important.
He added that an important challenge was the understanding of how to better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability, which ranged from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health and preventing pollution.
He stated that for instance, plastic pollution was detrimental to aquatic and terrestrial animals as it destroyed their habitats at an alarming rate and contributed immensely to environmental and ocean pollution.
GNA