Chairman of the Fisheries Commission Board, Professor Francis Nunoo, has raised concerns about the challenges facing the domestic aquaculture industry in Ghana. Speaking at the 2023 Aquaculture Ghana Conference, themed ‘Fostering stakeholder collaboration for sustainable aquaculture industry,’ Professor Nunoo emphasized the detrimental impact of the soaring cost of feed and the prevalence of diseases on the industry’s progress over the past decade.

The cost of feed, constituting over 70 percent of total production costs, has been a major hurdle for the aquaculture sector. Professor Nunoo noted that the rising cost of fish feed, accounting for 80 percent of production costs, poses a significant threat to the industry’s sustainability. Recent estimates by the Chamber of Aquaculture indicate a staggering 200 percent increase in the cost of fish feed in the current year alone.

The surge in feed costs is attributed to substantial increases in the prices of essential ingredients such as maize and soya beans. As a consequence, industry players have turned to lower-quality imported substitutes to produce feed for their fish, leading to higher import bills. In 2021, Ghana imported seafood worth USD 209 million, with processed fish alone accounting for USD 128 million, making the nation the 34th-largest importer of processed fish globally.

The high demand for fish, coupled with the inability of local fish farmers to meet this demand, has resulted in a strain on the Ghanaian cedi. The currency depreciated by 42.8 percent, 26.9 percent, and 33.9 percent against the US dollar, pound sterling, and Euro, respectively, in 2022. To mitigate these challenges, Professor Nunoo stressed the importance of finding sustainable ways to produce fish feed locally, reducing reliance on imports and strengthening the local currency.

The escalating cost of feed also poses a severe threat to both feed producers and aquaculture farmers, prompting concerns from the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Seth Akwaboah, Chief Executive of AGI, expressed worry about the challenges faced by businesses during recent industry tours. He highlighted macroeconomic challenges, including inflation, tight monetary policies, an unstable local currency, high utility tariffs, and limited access to long-term finance as contributing factors.

Akwaboah emphasized the need for cross-stakeholder interactions to address these challenges, stating that collaborative efforts are essential in the face of economic uncertainties. He urged stakeholders to focus not only on job losses but also on the stagnation of business growth.

In addition to the feed cost crisis, Professor Nunoo identified the prevalence of fish diseases as another significant challenge in the aquaculture industry. Despite these challenges, efforts are underway to build capacities in the veterinary sector through the Fish for Development program to overcome constraints related to fish diseases.

Looking ahead, Professor Nunoo mentioned investments in technology to enable Ghana to venture into the mariculture sector, with a specific emphasis on shrimp production. Acknowledging past challenges in shrimp farming, he expressed optimism about the future, considering the high value of shrimps in the global market, which was estimated to be USD 28.45 billion in 2020. Projections suggest a substantial expansion of the shrimp market from USD 33.81 billion in 2021 to USD 53.63 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.81 percent during the period from 2021 to 2028.