Fish processors, mongers, fishermen and all traders within the fish value chain have been sensitised on ensuring and promoting safe and quality fish right from catch to processing and marketing.
The safe fish symposium was to deepen the knowledge on safe practices for the artisanal sector by ensuring the use of safe water to wash the fish, personal hygiene, preventing the fish from microbial and dangerous contaminants and understanding the standards designed for the sector.
It was held under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the Fisheries Commission, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Environmental Health and Sanitation Department of the Local Government and fisheries post-harvest stakeholders.
In Ghana, 60 percent of animal protein in diet country – wide is said to be from fish, which accounts for 22.4 percent of household food expenditures, however, the fish processing sector has been unregulated over the years.
In helping to address the challenge, the USAID together with the Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA), in 2023, provided a technical assistance to the Fisheries Ministry, FDA, GSA and academia to launch the Safe Fish Certification and Licensing Scheme (SFCLS).
The SFCLS elevates the standards of fish processing in Ghana and ensures safer and higher-quality fish products for consumers and the intervention had led to training and certification of 200 fish processors across the country.
All the partners, including Environmental Health, and Sanitation Department of the Local Government had taken the safe fish practices, training, certification and licensing to some markets on a pilot basis.
The Techiman and Kintampo markets in the Bono East Region are said to be currently having certified fish processors with safe fish practices being carried whilst the Agbogbloshie and Adabraka markets in Accra are on pilot basis.
Mr Andrew Read, USAID Ghana Acting Deputy Mission Director, said, through the SFCL framework, over 3,500 fisherfolks, mostly women from coastal communities, had been trained on hygienic fish handling and processing, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
“By promoting best practices in fish handling and processing, the Safe Fish Scheme can drive positive change across the entire fisheries value chain,” he said.
Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), in an address urged the citizens to not only see fish as a source of nourishment but a symbol of commitment to fish safety.
Speaking on her behalf, Miss Marian Kpakpah, Chief Director, MoFAD, said, the fisheries sector had produced jobs for three million people in Ghana, with an export earnings of about $425 million in 2023.
She said MoFAD and Fisheries Commission were working to enhance food safety, improve nutrition, create market opportunities for high quality sea and inland fish in Ghana.
