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A Professor of Coastal Ecology and Interdisciplinary Oceans Studies, Prof. Denis Worlanyo Aheto has tasked the government as a matter of urgency to create a Blue Economy Authority instead of a ministry, to serve as a strong coordinating unit and provide technical capacities aimed at halting the pollution of the sea and other water bodies, including the destruction of marine life.
He observed that the blue economy holds solutions to employment, food security and enhanced socio-economic well-being if properly harnessed.
Prof Worlanyo Aheto expressed grave concern about the dire consequences Ghana’s ocean stands to suffer following the indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste into the ocean.
“The pollution of the ocean has an overwhelming bearing on staple food and the over two million Ghanaians whose livelihoods depend on it” he revealed.
Prof Worlanyo Aheto revealed that “fishermen are catching more plastic than fish and no one seems to care about the ocean even though we all like fish”.
He added that Ghana is the number one fish-eating nation in Africa, adding that, the average Ghanaian eats about 25 kilograms of fish per year far above the global average of 15 kilograms per year.
Prof. Worlanyo Aheto who doubles as the Director of the Centre for Coastal Management, the Africa Centre of Excellence in the Coastal Resilience(ACECoR) at the University of Cape Coast made these remarks while delivering his inaugural lecture on the topic: “Our Oceans: Securing our Common Future through Transformative Research.”
Addressing the challenges, he called for structures to be put in place to help position the country to take advantage of the immense opportunities that would come with the Blue Economy.
According to him, Africa needs a new ocean agenda anchored on the recognition that the blue economy should be a catalyst for sustainable development.
He opined that the ocean’s health and productivity were declining at an alarming rate, and posed a threat to humanity.
Prof. Aheto maintained that Ghana’s coastal and marine resources face significant threats in the form of pollution, biodiversity loss, ocean dumping, overfishing, and other marine threats including overexploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), piracy and trafficking.
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