NDC to allow science and data to lead fisheries sector - Nii Armah Amarfio
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has pledged to allow science and data to lead the country’s fisheries sector when it wins power in this year’s elections.
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This, the party believes, would help to enhance the viability of the sector and improve the sector’s contribution to the national economy.
Speaking at a “Political Parties Dialogue on the Fisheries Sector” organised by the Centre for Coastal Management of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, Mr Richter Nii Armah Amarfio, who represented the NDC, said the fisheries sector could be improved through science and data.
“We will allow science to lead our fisheries sector,” he said, adding that the party would offer grants to scientists and researchers to research the sector to guide policies and interventions.
According to him, collaborative fisheries research and management "is the basic principle for which we are going to rebuild our fisheries sector," adding that “We basically want to have a science-led fisheries management."
The Dialogue
The Political Parties Dialogue on the Fisheries Sector allowed the various political parties seeking to govern the country to present their policies and interventions for the fisheries sector.
The event brought together various stakeholders in the fisheries sector, including experts, fishers, political figures, and civil society organisations.
Other interventions
Mr Amarfio expressed the concern that currently data on the sector remained problematic as various institutions have inconsistencies in their data on the fisheries sector.
For him, in order to get accurate data in the sector, there was the need to be deliberate about it, saying that “the first thing on our item is fisheries data," adding that “We have a problem with the data. We have to rebuild our data and make our data work."
He said fisheries data must reflect realities on the ground in order to guide policies.
Mr Amarfio who is also the President of the National Fisheries Association, said the party would continue with the Anomabo Fisheries College to train fishers and other value-chain actors in the sector to build their competencies and capacities.
Additionally, he said, the next NDC government would establish a Blue Economic Commission.
The Blue Economy Commission, he noted, would properly coordinate all activities in the fisheries sector to make the country’s fisheries sector very profitable.
“We'll establish a Blue Economic Commission that will take into consideration all the factors that are happening within the fisheries sector and serve as a link between the fishing industry,” Mr Amarfio explained, adding “And we'll use a Blue Economic Commission to open up the blue economy."
Similarly, he said, the party would create marine protected areas that would protect essential fisheries habitats, stressing that the next NDC government would embark on a vigorous mangrove restoration and ban sand winning in areas where “you have sea turtles and others laying their eggs.”
Mr Amarfio said mangroves played a critical role in ensuring that fishes have a place to spawn, noting that the destruction of their habitats affected efforts to replenish stocks.
“So, we would restore mangroves and by restoring our mangroves, we also restore our coastal waters, the estuarial waters and the blackish waters in order that we will continue to grow our fishery,” he said.
According to him, the country’s fisheries sector was on its knees, needing urgent practical steps to bring it to life, saying “The truth is that the fishing industry is currently on its knees. We need to start from a very humble beginning. We need to start rebuilding all that we have lost.”
He added, “We've lost our inland water. We are losing our coastal fishing. So, the NDC government's agenda is to start rebuilding what is lost and resetting the fishing agenda and reset the fisheries industry.”