By Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA
Tema, July 03, GNA — The Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) Academy is to build the capacity of fishers to serve as community facilitators and establish monthly dialogue platforms in fishing communities across Ghana to strengthen fisheries co-management and promote the sustainable use of marine resources.
Mr Wisdom Pazzy Mordedzi, the National Coordinator of the Small-Scale Fisheries Academy, said the initiative would empower trained fishers to facilitate regular engagements among chief fishermen, canoe owners, fish processors, traders and other stakeholders to identify and address challenges confronting the fisheries sector.
Mr Mordedzi, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) following a training programme for the fishers, said the dialogue platforms would create opportunities for fishing communities to develop locally driven solutions that complement government efforts to restore depleted fish stocks and improve fisheries governance.
He said, “The facilitators will return to their communities to organise monthly dialogue sessions where stakeholders will discuss challenges at the landing beaches, promote voluntary compliance with fisheries laws and channel community concerns to the Fisheries Commission and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.”
He explained that the academy formed part of a one-year partnership between Mundus Maris ASBL and the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG) to strengthen community participation in fisheries co-management.
He said the programme sought to translate the provisions of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2025 (Act 1146), into practical community action through dialogue, education and stronger local institutions.
He stated that the initiative would also deepen fishers’ understanding of the new fisheries law and encourage responsible fishing practices to support the recovery of Ghana’s declining fish stocks.
The academy recently trained 30 men and women drawn from fishing communities in Ghana’s four coastal regions to serve as community facilitators under the programme.
A press statement issued at the end of the inaugural workshop noted that years of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing had contributed significantly to declining fish stocks, affecting the livelihoods of artisanal fishers and the long-term sustainability of the country’s fisheries resources.
The statement observed that Ghana currently imported about 80,000 tonnes of fish annually to supplement local production and stressed the need for stronger collaboration among government, fishing communities, civil society organisations, traditional authorities and development partners to reverse the trend.
It added that the monthly dialogue platforms would provide a structured mechanism for communities to identify practical solutions to local fisheries challenges while contributing community perspectives to national fisheries policy and management decisions.
The organisers expressed optimism that strengthening community participation, improving awareness of fisheries laws and promoting dialogue would contribute to rebuilding fish stocks and securing sustainable livelihoods for Ghana’s small-scale fishing communities.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo
Reporter: Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA