A fish farmer, Mr George Owusu, has appealed to the Government to promote aquaculture business by rolling out pragmatic interventions to address the challenges confronting the industry.
Mr Owusu, the owner of Groans Fish Farm at Dumasua in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region, made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Dumasua and urged government to supply fish feed to farmers on credit.
He explained that the availability of adequate and quality fish feed was a vital element for the progress of aquaculture production, saying: “The quality and quantity of feed are critical to producing quality fish, therefore inadequate feed affects productivity”.
Mr Owusu said government could facilitate affordable loans by the banks to fish farmers to sustain their businesses.
He called for the adequate resourcing of extension officers of the Fisheries Ministry to carry out their work effectively, observing that most of them were restricted due to the non-availability of means of transport.
He advised colleague fish farmers to venture into other activities in the value-chain like fish processing because the industry did not revolve only around fresh fish production but equally around other viable aspects.
If all fish farmers resorted to producing and the other sectors of the value-chain are neglected there would be lapses and we will be making complaint of lack of market for our produce,” he said.
Mr Owusu indicated he would quit production and go into smoked fish processing to ensure the expansion of the value-chain in the Bono Region.
The other reason for my switch is due to inadequate water in the fish ponds during the dry season, which is a hindrance to fish farming business growth, he added.
By Benjamin Akoto, GNA