UDS 15th inaugural lecture calls for investment into aquaculture development

The University for Development Studies (UDS) has held its 15^th inaugural lecture with a call for an investment into aquaculture development in order to feed the evergrowing human population.

That the fisheries sector of Ghana provides livelihood support to about 2.4 million people and plays a very important role in the national economy, contributing 1.5% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Prof Eliot Haruna Alhassan, with the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Biosciences who made the call noted that the fisheries sector promotes socioeconomic growth, alleviating poverty, and improving the livelihoods of marginalized communities across the world.

The event on “Life below water; development and trajectory of Ghana’s inland fisheries” forms part of the auspicious occasion for the University to acknowledge the promotion of a full professor aimed at demonstrating the contribution of sustainable inland fisheries to livelihood enhancement in the socio-economic development of the country and the need for more investment to make the sector an attractive one for the youth.

The event chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof. Seidu Al- Hassan and the Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Felix Kofi Abagale with support from the university staff provided an opportunity for Prof Eliot to present on the topic.

Over the past two decades, he noted that the fisheries growth was steady and at an average of 3% per annum, falling short of its expected potential. "Foreign exchange earnings from fisheries increased from US$ 165.7 million in 2010 to US$ 309.7 million in 2015, with a corresponding increase in the overall fish production by volume of 9.3% between 2010 and 2015 according to MoFAD 2016 report," he said.

According to Prof Eliot, the big threat to life below water is overfishing and unsustainable aquaculture with majority of fisheries consisting over 80 % of assessed stocks fully fished or overfished today adding that illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for as much as 53 percent of reported catch.

"In 2017, total fishery production of Ghana was 448,192.87 tones; of which 314,033.9 tones from marine capture fisheries, 76,753.66 tones from inland capture fisheries and 57,405.31 tons from inland aquaculture production with 70% of the bulk of production from marine, 17% from freshwater and 13% from aquaculture," he added.

He noted that aquatic ecosystems like coastal waters, freshwaters, and brackish as well as marine ecosystems serve as food, protein and source of medicine for man.

"Most of our inland waters especially rivers have been subjected to habitat degradation and aquatic pollution through illegal small-scale mining popularly known in Ghana as ‘galamsey’ with consequent adverse impacts on water quality, aquatic life, and even humans," he intimated.

"In order to have healthy communities, we need clean air, natural resources, and a nontoxic environment. Sustainable development therefore provides an approach to making better decisions on the issues that affect all of our lives," he continued.

According to him, the relevant stakeholders should control the illegal small-scale mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’ in our rivers to help prevent pollution and siltation of the water bodies and destruction of fish habitats.

He stressed the need to educate the students on how to manage the resources sustainably for the benefit of future generations.

He said, "Transboundary water resources such as the Volta basin should be protected by all countries sharing the resource to avoid negative impacts on countries downstream.

"Trees should be cut down in possible inundated areas in the construction of dams for hydropower generation and irrigation purposes to prevent the loss of lives through accidents by hitting tree stumps during navigation and transport on the future reservoir."

He is married to Madam Godslove Adjeiwaa Kordie with three children. He is the second of five siblings. He started his basic education at the Canteen Primary School in the Savannah Regional capital.

About Prof Eliot Haruna Alhassan
He joined the St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Primary and Junior Secondary Schools at Basic 5 and completed with the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 1994. He later attended Tamale Senior Secondary School and completed the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) in 1997.

In 1999, he proceeded to the University for Development Studies (UDS), pursued a 4-year BSc Agriculture Technology (Renewable Natural Resources option), and graduated with a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) in 2003.

He later enrolled at the University of Ghana, Legon where he obtained his MPhil and PhD Fisheries Science degrees in 2007 and 2013 respectively.

His research interest includes freshwater ecology, water quality assessment, fish stock assessment, management of small-scale inland fisheries, wetland ecology and conservation, the impact of climate change and climate variability on inland fisheries, fish farming and contribution of small-scale inland fisheries to food security. He collaborated with several researchers in Ghana, Sub-Saharan Africa, Germany and China.

Professor Alhassan has over 150 scientific publications to his credit including 72 articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, 6 book chapters, 70 referenced conference proceedings, and 8 technical reports.