COASTAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME LAUNCHED (PAGE 38, NOV 23)

AN Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance (ICFG) programme has been launched in the Western Region.
It is to support the government in achieving its fisheries development objectives of poverty reduction, food security, sustainable management and conservation of the coastal and marine ecological system.
It also seeks to provide alternative means of livelihood for communities in the six coastal districts of the Western Region.
They are the Ahanta West, Ellembele, Jomoro and Shama districts, as well as the Nzema East and Sekondi/Takoradi metropolises.
It will also ensure that the country’s coastal and marine ecological systems are sustainably managed to provide goods and services that will generate long-term socio-economic benefits for the communities, while sustaining biodiversity.
The ICFG programme is a four-year initiative supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the agency is to spend US$10 million on it in the next four years.
It is being implemented through a co-operative agreement with the Coastal Resources Centre of the University of Rhode Island, with the WorldFish Centre, Sustainametrix and Friends of the Nation.
Other implementors are the Department of Fisheries, the coastal districts in the Western Region and other key government, private sector and non-governmental organisation stakeholders in the fisheries sector as key partners.
The programme seeks to address the over exploitation of fisheries resources and the decline of fish stocks, conflicts between artisanal, as well as industrial/semi industrial fleet and oil/gas companies, and the weak capacity for governance of coastal and fisheries resources.
It will also address the high population growth rates, high poverty and poorly planned coastal communities, increased human activities and pressures in the coastal zone, as well as threats to biodiversity assets such as wetlands, mangroves, lagoons, turtle nesting areas and the impact of climate change along the coast.
In an address read on his behalf by his deputy, Ms Betty Bosumtwi-Sam, to launch the programme in Takoradi, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, said the advent of the programme was timely, since it was being launched at a time when fish stock in the water bodies was being depleted as a result of bad fishing methods.
“I am hopeful that this initiative will help in replenishing the fish stock to provide all-year round fishing activities for fishermen and empower them financially,” he said.
He expressed regret that though the fishing industry was one of the oldest, it had not been given the needed attention and, as a result, it had not been able to satisfy domestic demand.
The USAID Country Director, Ms Cheryl Anderson, noted that the country’s coastline had seen many changes and that the project would help the government and the communities to manage the coastline.
She said the project would be built and expanded based on past experiences.
Ms Anderson noted that fish catch today was not the same as it was about 10 years ago, explaining that there were about 12,000 fishing canoes in the country today as against 1,000 in the 1990s.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, said the project was a challenge to the people of the region.
He urged the management of the project to ensure transparency and accountability and also co-operate with the chiefs and people in the beneficiary communities towards its successful implementation.