Business News of Friday, 11 June 2021
Source: business24.com.gh
2021-06-11
Good regulatory measures at the fisheries sector will develop Africa
West Africa is endowed with fisheries resources that have to be harnessed for the benefit of the sub-region.
Harnessing this potential has been hampered by the prevalence of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing – leading to the depletion of the fisheries stock.
One of the major solutions to address these challenges is the development of a coordinated strategic plan for the sub-region – a plan that will provide the governance framework for fishing.
In the quest to have this framework properly implemented, a regional workshop on the popularisation and dissemination of a comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development for the West Africa region was held in Accra.
The two-day meeting was to improve awareness of the regional framework and also to solicit the inputs and concerns of ECOWAS member states to ensure its smooth implementation.
The workshop is to help member states develop a roadmap that will facilitate the alignment of national strategies towards the harmonisation of fisheries governance across the sub-region.
The comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development (CSF SFAD) framework was adopted by ECOWAS ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture in November 2020.
There is no denying that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, the weak development of aquaculture are some of the key challenges across the region.
Business24 believes that, indeed, promoting sustainable fisheries, will be highly necessary to the development of Africa with more than two million people relying directly or indirectly on the sector.
At the end of the day, organisers of the event believe that the strategic framework will create an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in fisheries and aquaculture.