It was recently reported that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development is constructing a hatchery for fish fingerlings at Gowrie in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region.
The hatchery would support aquaculture in the Upper East Region. According to the Upper East Region, the rehabilitation of the Tono Dam, the completion of the Tamne Dam along with many other irrigation projects in the Upper East Region provide an opportunity for the region to vigorously pursue fish farming at commercial rates.
The hatchery, when completed, would also be in a position to supply fingerlings to the other 4 regions in northern Ghana.
This came to light when the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, took his turn at the Ministry of Information’s State of the Region Report series at the Press Centre in Accra, the national capital.
“In view of the potential of the region for fish production, the government, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, is setting up a hatchery at Gowrie in the Bongo District to supply fingerlings to the entire 5 Northern Regions.”
“This, when completed, would bring a sigh of relief to fish farmers who have to travel to the southern part of the country just to transport fingerlings,” he said.
Speaking to Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show recently, the Upper East Regional Director for the Fisheries Commission said the completion and stocking of the facility are imminent.
“The government in the 80s made a campaign for people to go into fish farming, and in those days, because there were few technical men on the ground, there was no fish seed, and many other things were not available, so it failed. Since then, the government has deemed it wise to set up hatcheries because, in the 1980s, when the campaign failed, there were no fish seeds. The seeds people were getting were from rivers and streams, and those ones were not growing fast. It [the setting up of hatcheries] started with one in the southern sector; in the Greater Accra Region, specifically Ashaiman. Then, another one for northern Ghana in the Ashanti region. But then, looking at the distance at which people have to travel from Northern Ghana to go for the fingerlings, it was also very difficult. Then, when they bring them, you would also notice there’s high mortality due to stress. So the government deemed it wise to set up another hatchery in northern Ghana. By the next 2 months, we should start producing tilapia and catfish fingerlings and supplying the same to fish farmers in the northern enclave,” he said.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
hello. please how can we get access to this facility? is there any contact we can have to get in touch with them?