Management, Challenges and Developments of Aquaculture ... 32014; MoFAD, 2015), which is higher than the world’s average of 19. 2 kg
(FAO, 2014). The fisheries sector of the country therefore contributes
substantially to the socio-economic development objectives through food
security, livelihood support, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), poverty
reduction, employment, foreign exchange earnings and resource sustainability.
However, the aquaculture sector has over the past two decades registered a
slow growth of 6% per annum, falling short of its expected potential (MoFAD,
2013). The average annual fish production (marine, inland and aquaculture) in
the last five years is 460,000 tonnes while the country’s fish requirement has
been currently estimated to be 1,000,000 tonnes, outstripping supply by over
50% (MoFAD, 2015). With the country’s landings from capture fisheries
being dwindled, fish demand will continue to increase. At present, the gap
between demand and supply is bridged through fish imports valued at US$
million annually (Failler et al., 2015). The Government of Ghana is
determined to develop aquaculture and expand family fish farming across the
entire country to reduce the importation of fish. Aquaculture has not only been
an immediate option for Ghana alone, but is globally considered as a
sustainable way of accelerating the recovery of the world fish stock through its
fastest growth rate as animal producing sector while capture fisheries
production remains stable (FAO, 2014). The country’s rich water resources
provide considerable opportunity for advancement of the different systems of
freshwater and even marine aquaculture.
The aquaculture sector in Ghana is highly diverse and fragmented, ranging
from smallholder ponds providing a few kilos of fish per year to commercial
cage units. While local production from marine fisheries declined by 17%
between 2000 and 2013 (MoFAD, 2014), aquaculture production increased
from 38,547 tonnes in 2014 to 46,250 tonnes in 2015, an increase of 20%. This
resulted in the reduction of fish imports from 145,910 tonnes in 2014 to
102,874.95 tonnes in 2014 (MoFAD, 2015). Despite this great contribution
and potential of the aquaculture industry, most Ghanaians see it as a part-time,
limited investment hobby due to the poor regard they have for aquaculture as
an economic activity (Gitonga et al., 2004; Hiheglo, 2008). The relatively few
farmers that culture fish because of its excellent economic growth
opportunities are faced with a number of constraints. These challenges,
according to Rurangwa et al. (2015) include insufficient availability of
affordable fish feeds, seed quality and quantity. Inadequate involvement of
private sector in the development of the aquaculture industry is also listed as
one of the major problems as well as lack of financial resources for bringing
about profitability of aquaculture operations, lack of appropriate skills or