Tema-Ghana, March 14, GNA – The National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) has paid tribute to women’s contribution to the development and sustainability of the value chain of the fishing industry.
It noted that “women play a critical role and contribute tremendously towards the blue economy.”
Mr. Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, the NAFAG General Secretary, said while men controlled mainly the downstream, the women usually worked within the upstream sector in the fishing industry…“almost all our fishes end up with the women who then do the trading.”
He urged the women to strive towards working onshore and encouraged the elderly women, who were knowledgeable in fishing to teach the younger generation to succeed in the trade.
Mr Amarfio, who was speaking at an event organised by the Ghana News Agency to commemorate the 2023 International Women’s Day, said that women continued to be the backbone of the fishing sector.
However, there had been some historical misconceptions about women going fishing, which although had no linkage with the industrial sector, it had up to date, served as a barrier to women’s participation in onshore activities, he said.
He encouraged Ghanaian women in the fishing industry to take advantage of the many opportunities that existed within the sector just as their counterparts in other countries were doing.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager, appealed to NAFAG to effectively engage the various chief fishermen to allow women who dared to challenge the status quo to have the opportunity to go fishing too.
“The first barrier to break is for the chief fishermen to accept women into the downstream sector,” he said.
Mr. Ameyibor also appealed to women with interest in operating directly in the downstream sector to form groups, engage professionals to educate them on the intricacies involved in working at sea, and build their capacity to confront the odds.
