Veep lays foundation for fisheries college
The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, last Tuesday laid the foundation for the construction of the first fisheries college in Ghana at Anomabo in the Central Region.
The college, which will be affiliated to the University of Cape Coast, will provide professional and technical training to practitioners in the fishing industry, who will in turn manage the country’s fisheries resources and other related areas.
The college has been named after Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
Currently, the administration block, lecture halls and other facilities are under different stages of construction and the first batch of students will be admitted in October next year.
Programmes
The college would provide in-service training for practitioners in the fisheries sector, Non–tertiary Certificate (Vocational) courses for JHS graduates, and diploma programmes in Fisheries, Aquaculture and Extension for SHS graduates.
Others are graduate programmes at MSc, Mphil and PHD levels.
Addressing the gathering, the Vice-President said the NDC government attached a lot of importance to the fishing industry and would, therefore, do everything possible to improve fishing in Ghana’s waters.
He expressed the hope that the college would help drive the country's fishing industry to greater heights.
Mr Amissah-Arthur said the college also fit well into the government's Fisheries Development Plan and added that it would usher in a new era of marine and aqua-culture development in the country.
Touching on illegal fishing activities, the Vice-President stated that the government was determined to end the practice and called for support from all in that respect.
Commendation
He lauded the efforts of members of the College Implementation Committee for the good work it had done so far and suggested that the curricula of the college took into consideration existing practices and indigenous technologies and the most appropriate, effective and efficient practices.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ms Sherry Ayittey, said the goal of the college was to build capacity in the fisheries sector through vigorous research activities and training of extension staff and practitioners for efficient and sustainable management of marine and inland fisheries resources in Ghana.
She mentioned specific objectives of the college to include providing scientific, technological and vocational training in all the areas of fisheries science, promote active research and development for the growth of the fisheries sector and train extension staff for the sector to transfer new technologies to practitioners.
