Accra, June 26, GNA - The fisheries sub-sector recorded an estimated 3.6 per cent growth in 2006 as against the negative 1.2 per cent growth recorded in 2005, Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Fisheries, said in Accra on Tuesday.

She said the increase in the growth rate was an indication of the gradual recovery of the sector from the negative trend that existed before the creation of the Ministry of Fisheries in 2005. In an address read for her at the opening of a sub-regional workshop on the "Improvement of Fishery Data and Information Collection Systems for West Central Gulf of Guinea Region," she tasked participants to find solutions to comprehensive data collection, handling and management.

"It is in the face of such excruciating challenges that the Ministry of Fisheries deems the sub-regional workshop very important and timely not only for Ghana but for the West Central Gulf of Guinea Region, where marine fisheries stocks such as tuna and herrings are utilized by many of the countries," she said.

The three-day workshop is being organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in conjunction with the Fisheries Committee for the Central Gulf of Guinea and FishCode-STF Project. The 13 participants from Ghana, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Nigeria are expected to review national fishery data and information collection systems in the region, taking account of critical aspects of the systems.

They are also to examine viable options to improve the quality of fishery data and information, which suit specific requirements and are operational in a budget and manpower situation.

Mrs Asmah said the compilation of accurate, relevant and timely data in a standard form that made it comparable with that of other countries in the sub-region, and the analysis of this data were essential for the development and utilization of the national fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

This compilation, she noted, was necessary to generate the data required to monitor the development of the sector and the state of its resources, as well as to recognize emerging and established trends. "In the areas of gathering, compiling and analyzing of fisheries data, however, there are huge gaps that need to be filled in order to make the data readily available and usable to enable critical decisions on elaboration of capacity and effort to be made," she said.

Mr Edouard K. Tapsoba, Officer in-Charge of the FAO Regional Office for Africa, said there had been a high level of public interest in the sustainable use of fishery resources and communities increasingly needed relevant information for their fish production and livelihood activities.

"A better informed public will surely support efforts in responsibly managing fisheries and aquatic resources," he said. Mr. Tapsoba admitted that the collection and analysis of fishery data was a costly, time-consuming and effort-intensive exercise. He said fishery line agencies, which in many cases suffered from chronic problems of budget and human resource limitations, often struggled to produce reliable information in a timely manner. "Poor quality of information created a general sense of distrust on fishery information among policy makers and fisheries managers, which results in none, or very limited use of fishery statistics," he said. He added that such situations further led to low priority or attention being attached to data collection activities.

The FAO, Mr Tapsoba noted, had been working on the challenging task of improving the quality of fishery data and information over the years to avail users with better planning and development tools. He said adequate and reliable fishery information was also required for assessing the validity of fishery policy and for tracking the performance of fisheries management.

Mr. Dedi Nadje, Secretary General for the Fisheries Committee of West Central Gulf of Guinea, said this was the first technical meeting for the group and he was hopeful that the priority areas of improvement in data collection would be identified for the region.