Fish farmers in Kwahu area seek market for produce

Fish farmers in the Kwahu area are looking for a market for their produce, following the negative impact of the Coronavirus on their businesses.

This came to light when the Fisheries Commission visited selected fish farms in the Kwahu area to assess the impact of the coronavirus on their business.

At the fish farm of Mr Yaw Sarpong at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, he told the Ghana News Agency(GNA) that he could not get market for his fish over four tons of tilapia and catfish produced by his farm early this year because of coronavirus.

Mr Sarpong said he stocked the fish to meet the Kwahu Easter festival but the festival was called off because of COVID-19 and expressed his frustrations and appealed to people to come and buy the fish.

Mr Sarpong explained that he started the venture less than a year ago and was hoping for things to go smoothly but now the opposite had happened.

He currently employs one permanent worker and four casual workers and said he spends GhC100.00 a day to feed the overgrown fishes and appealed to private entities and government to buy the fish.

At the Family and Friends Fish Farm, the Farm Manager, Mr Omari Evans said they could not get customers for the fish produce by the farm because of the coronavirus and the drive-in the restaurant attached to the farm for selling of the processed fish is also out of operations because of the virus.

The farm employs four workers and is still maintaining all of them.

Ms Linda Bana, the New Juaben Zonal Director, who led the team on the visit to find out the impact of COVID-19 on aquaculture in the Eastern Region thanked the farmers for their hard work and dedication in feeding Mother Ghana.