Protect fishing industry because it employs 20% of Ghana's workforce - Prof. Akpalu

A fisheries economist, Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, has urged the government to safeguard the fishing sector and its 20% working force because of the enormous role it plays in contributing to the economy of the country.

He explained that up to 70% of the animal protein we consume in the country, come from fish, making the sector an important one and essential enough to be protected.

"When it comes to employment, it employs a lot of people, including women... and this has been the figures from some years back. When we revise it, the figure is supposed to be more or higher than that. So, imagine a sector that is employing about 20% of your active labour force: 20%! ... so we have to be very very protective of this sector," he said.

Expanding his point, he mentioned how even for university graduates, there are many of them roaming the streets without any jobs and to have an industry providing so much employment to people, it should be taken very seriously.

Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, who is also the Dean of the School of Research and Graduate Studies at GIMPA, made this known during a presentation at a roundtable discussion on Fisheries Regulation and Enforcement in Ghana at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).