The Director of ENRRI-EfD Ghana, Prof. Wisdom Akpalu urged the fisheries sector to institute credible and robust data systems to boost public trust and support for the fisheries industry while ensuring profitability and sustainability.
He talked about the importance of quality and credible data to top fisheries officials at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration on 10 December 2021.
Wisdom Akpalu noted that the lack of a well-structured system to gather and store credible and quality data on the fisheries sector is hindering evidence-based decision-making and public trust, as well as profits, and ultimately the sustainability of the sector.
“When citizens know more about their natural resources, they know who is benefiting and what to do to ensure that the resource is well protected,” he said.
He also underscored the critical role of collaboration, that it is about time stakeholders, notably academics and decision-makers and implementers, moved away from working in silos to working closely together to ensure that the right data is generated to guide key decisions, like the number of trawlers and canoes to be allowed to fish in the country’s waters for example.
“We have to work together to address the problems in the fisheries sector together,” he said.
The meeting involved the Chairman of the Fisheries Commission and officials from the marine police unit among others. It is one of several events arranged by ENRRI-EfD Ghana this year as part of the efforts to advocate and garner support for pressing environmental and development issues.