Dr. Mohamed Seisey, Senior Fisheries Officer of the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources AU-IBAR, has urged African journalists to assist their respective governments by disseminating information on the best fishing practices in order to sustain the fishing sector in Africa.
He said African Union is putting together a strategy to assist member states in order to create a conducive and enabling environment for the sector to create equitable, social and economic development for Africa.
Dr. Mohamed Seisey said this in an interview with Citi News on the side-lines of the just ended African Journalists for Sustainable Fisheries workshop in Elmina, organized by the World Bank and AU-ABIR.
“The African Union has formulated a fisheries framework for fishing and aquaculture in Africa. This framework would help Africa if you journalists are able to disseminate the best practices in the framework to the masses and assist your national governments to develop realistic policies that would increase the contribution of the sector for poverty alleviation and food security.”
Over 150 journalists from 44 African countries convened in Elmina, Ghana, to tackle issues in the fisheries sector. They witnessed how sustainable fishery management can reduce extreme poverty, build climate resilient communities, and foster strong economies.
In Africa, fish accounts for more than half of the total animal protein people eat according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO.
Fish provides essential food security, which is particularly important in countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, as they are recovering from the deadly Ebola outbreak.
Globally, 1 billion people in developing countries depend on fish for their primary source of protein, yet many sector is over-exploited, as poor management and illegal fishing makes it hard for fishermen to feed their families.
In Ghana for example, about 135,000 fishermen witnessed a 40 percent decline in fish harvest in the first decade of the 21st century.
Globally, the economic loss from poor fisheries governance and management amounts to $50-100 billion each year.
As African fisheries continue to expand, policies are needed to guide the industry to prevent further resource degradation, rehabilitate over-exploited stocks, and manage overall fishing effort levels.
He said development partners have come a long way in supporting countries’ efforts to build sustainable fishery management and coastal resources.
He however added that there is still a long way to go, hence the need for the media to be included in the governance of the fisheries sector, to bring a heightened sense of awareness and a more complete understanding of the urgency by the public.
“I am pleased to say that we have met our objective to develop a network of African journalists who will promote sustainable fisheries and resilient fisheries’ communities. We organized this workshop to assist them in producing factual, accurate, deep-dive reporting on fisheries issues,” He added.
Journalists travelled to the fishing communities of Apam, Elmina, and Moree to meet with fishers, families and local officials to experience how the 40 percent decline in fish stock has affected their lives.
Communities discussed the daily struggles they go through to make a living from the fisheries sector deeply affected by Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to tackle the use of chemicals like dynamite in the water, child labour, and gender issues.
Dr. Brian Crawford, Director of the USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project, said Africa can overcome the challenge facing the sector with the required commitment.
“Weak management has threatened this important local and sustainable food supply on many parts of the continent. Journalists need to report on emerging success stories from Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi and elsewhere demonstrating that Africa can meet the challenges of sustaining these food supplies and increase the contributions of aquaculture and capture fisheries.”
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By: Akwesi Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana