Tilapia Farmers Hold Fish Health Workshop In Akosombo

November 6, 2017 Leave a comment

On Thursday 19 October, Honorable Elisabeth Qwaye, the minister of MOFAD, attended the Raanan Workshop organized with Tilapia farmers in Ghana.

Raanan Fish Feed WA, the main producer of fish feed in Ghana with its factory based in Prampram, organized this technical fish health workshop in Akosombo, where the country’s biggest tilapia producers are located.

French Veterinary Dr Lebreton, together with Raanan Fish Feed Expert Jacques Magnee and with a contribution from Dr Adjei from MOFAD Lab Services, exposed the result of a comprehensive and intensive study that monitored and screened fish health in Ghanaian Tilapia farms over the last 2 years.

Technical advice was given to tilapia farmers for the use of natural and preventive action to improve the resistance of tilapia in cages. With good farm practices, tilapia farmers are able to produce high quality fish locally. “The Volta Lake’s water is not contaminated by any source of pollution from mining, big cities or intensive agriculture. This is the opportunity for fish farmers to produce a naturally high-quality fish for the local market,” said M. Magnee.

Preventive and natural practices such as vaccination and feed additives are therefore recommended by the French Vet Services. Another recommendation is to reduce the density of fish in the cages, a program promoted by Raanan Fish Feed WA which also includes training and improving the Aquaculture department of the Ministry’s Veterinary Laboratory to improve monitoring and diagnosis in fish farms.

The Minister in her presentation thanked Raanan Fish Feed and Dr Lebreton for their support with this useful initiative. She confirmed her motivation to improve support to fish farmers. “We need to work all together to raise the industry and increase the local production of fish and create new employment,” she said. A committee has been created to study and analyze the needs of the industry. The Minister stated the need to produce bigger volumes of maize and soya in order to reduce the cost of feed. As farmers showed their concern about newly arrived Chinese fish producers who do not respect local policies by importing illegally frozen tilapia and tilapia strain, the Minister confirmed her decision to reinforce the policy and legal provisions. Farmers also expressed their concern facing the aggressive dumping practices of those new farms, as local fish sellers and market women favor the Chinese fish for its low price only, thus deteriorating the image of quality of the Tilapia produced in Ghana.