Ghana’s tilapia is safe – Ministry
Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, says tilapia in Ghana is wholesome for public consumption and so there was no need to abandon the fish, which is a delicacy for most Ghanaians.
She said the recent Fujian Farm tilapia death that occurred in Asutuare in the Shai OsuDoku District of the Greater Accra Region was farm specific, which had been taken care of with the dead fishes buried deep, amidst police surveillance on the farm and around the area.
“I want to assure the general public that this is a farm specific problem, it hasn’t happened on any other farm apart from the Fujian farm and that farm has been closed down.
“So I want to assure the general public that tilapia in Ghana is wholesome and we can consume tilapia from other recognized sources. We shouldn’t be afraid,” Mrs Quaye said.
Speaking to the GNA on the sideline of the signing of the Anti Child Labour and Trafficking Strategy Document developed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture for the fisheries sector in Ghana on Tuesday, Mrs Quaye said Ghana was still waiting for the results taken from samples of the dead fish, the feed they consumed and water source from the farm for testing, which was expected to be ready in two weeks time.
She said the farm had been condoled off at the moment.
About 20 tonnes of tilapia fishes were reported dead on the Fujian Farms last Monday as pictures kept circulating in the public.
Meanwhile, Mr Carl Fiati, Head of Natural Resource Division at the Environmental Protection Agency, has reassured the public that EPA officials together with the NADMO officers had inspected the Fujian farm and had made sure that the fishes had been deeply buried while surveillance were mounted to prevent people from digging up the fishes.
He discounted the rumour that the tilapia on that farm died out of poisoning, and indicated that the housekeeping on the farm was not “too good” and so there could be other factors contributing to the death, adding that “we need to wait for the lab result in a fortnight”.
He however advised the public to look out for bright red gills of fishes they bought on the market to be sure that they were consuming wholesome fish.
“People should avoid fishes with grey or dark gills,” he advised.
Source: GNA