Increasing human activities along the Western coast, such as improper waste management, oil and gas exploration, over fishing, unsustainable practices coupled with climate change, negatively affect the marine environment in Ghana.
This phenomenon results in depletion of the fish stock thereby crippling the economic status of fishers, fishmongers, which has a telling effect on the local and national economy.
An expert in the marine governance, Mr.Ben Botwe made the observation at a validation workshop in Takoradi in the Western Region.
It drew participants from the media, the Ghana Police Service, traditional rulers, the EPA, Town and Country Planning, Marine Enforcement Unit, Fishers, Ghana Immigration Service among others centred on “Eco-System Based Approach to an Integrated Marine and Coastal Environment In Ghana’
The workshop entitled, Ghana’s Pilot Project’, follows the Abidjan Convention, which recognizes the importance of the Gulf of Guinea in respect of the fishing, oil and gas development, maritime transport and biological diversity in supporting the socio-economic development of member states.
The project targeted four Districts namely, Jomoro, Ellembelle, Nzema-East and Ahanta-West.
Mr.Botwe said a host of activities such as the use of small nets, poison (DDT), oil and gas extraction, which may lead to accidents in times of spillage among other bad fishing activities coupled with climate change, were the leading causes of depletion in the fish stock.
He called for strategic planning to ensure judicious and harmonious use of resources to safeguard the marine environment.
The Chief Programme Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mr Jewel Kudjawu who spoke on ecologically or biologically significant areas, called for proper mapping that would ensure an integrated ocean management approach.
He stressed the need to protect fishes around the mangroves to safeguard the fish stock in river bodies to become extinct, especially turtles.
Mr.Kudjawu said it was necessary to study the migration routes of fishes in a bid to protect places, where fishes such as dolphins, whales feed in the rivers for their economic benefit to Ghana and the sub-Region.
He said findings on tracing the migration routes of fishes would be presented to government for approval and make other countries come on board to make the project more viable.
An Urban Planner at the Lands Commission in Accra Mr Ebenezer Ntsiful who spoke on the importance of water and sewerage said most of the communities, where oil and gas activities were taking place, lacked treated and hygienic drinking water.
He noted that the communities also lacked proper roads to access health infrastructure and that the workshop would therefore collate stakeholder views on how to address pitfalls in the various Districts.
A Senior team Planning Officer at the Land and Spatial Planning Authority (LASPA), Madam Celestina Deku who spoke on “Marine Special Development Framework”, called for the implementation of an integrated ocean management approach to achieve the object of the Abidjan Convention.
She stressed the need for an eco-system approach towards a sustained integrated marine and coastal environment.
A Senior Programme Officer at the EPA in Takoradi, Mr.Opoku-Mensah Kwadwo said the workshop was aimed at bringing the findings of the EPA and other stakeholders on eco-systems and how to chart a new path to safeguard the marine and coastal environment.
