Water bodies must not be solely managed by traditional authorities

Cape Coast, May 18, GNA - A zoology professor at the University of Cape Coast, Prof John Blay Jnr, has said it would require the efforts of district assemblies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and traditional authorities to manage lagoons and other water bodies.

He said the situation where the 1992 Fisheries Act had left the sole management of such water bodies in the hands of traditional authorities should be given a second look because they do not pay much attention the pollution of the lagoons. At an inaugural lecture on the topic "Lagoon Tilapia, Bio-Profile and Prospect for Coastal Fisheries Development at the UCC", Prof Blay enumerated factors militating against increased yields and sizes of the production of tilapia in lagoons and fish in general. He said the unorthodox method of fishing had become so rampant that fish production had not kept pace with the increasing population. He said the use of flashlight, dynamite, pair trawling among other "inappropriate" fishing practices as well as the excessive pollution of water bodies were depleting the fish stock in the sea, lagoons and rivers such that the "seasonal bumper harvest can no longer be predicted."

Prof Blay underscored the importance of lagoon management to the sustenance of tilapia which he described as very nutritious and a national delicacy and said when well managed, lagoons could continue to provide a source of livelihood for the coastal community while adding to their nutritional values.

Prof Blay, who based his research on the most common lagoon tilapia found in the country, "sarotherodon melanotheron" also known as the black or black-cheeked tilapia, said the anthropotenic threat in the Fosu and Benya lagoons in Cape Coast and Elmina respectively made it unlikely for the tilapia found in them to grow to appreciable sizes. He said the tilapia in the two lagoons had the capacity to grow bigger and improved yields would largely depend on how well the lagoons were managed.

Prof Blay said he was unhappy that the Fosu Lagoon for instance had been choked with filth, industrial waste and other pollutants thereby attracting the growth of water lettuce.