PRESS RELEASE USAID AWARDS $24 MILLION FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN GHANA Announcement of new fisheries project – Friends of the Nation selected as local implementing partner Friends of the Nation (FoN) has been selected as one of the implementing partner for the five-year program called “Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP)”. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed approximately $24 million dollars to the SFMP to contribute to food security in Ghana. The Coastal Resources Center at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, USA (CRC-URI), will be lead in this project lasting from October 2014 to October 2019. The fisheries management project has the objective to rebuild Ghana’s marine fisheries stocks and catches through facilitating adoption of responsible fishing practices. It complements the Government of Ghana’s fisheries development objectives and USAID’s Feed the Future (FtF) Initiative goals of improved food security, economic growth and poverty alleviation. This project which will contribute to consolidating the gains of the erstwhile Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance (ICFG) Initiative (2009-2014) will also contribute to the strengthening of marine and fisheries management capabilities at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and coastal spatial planning capacity of districts in the Central and Western Regions. “We are delighted to be part of this project. It rekindles our long standing endeavor to promote broadbased education to fishermen along the coast of Ghana,” said Donkris Mevuta, Executive Director of Friends of the Nation. “Our work in this area, particularly the ICFG project, was focused on the Western Region only. The SFMP will go beyond to involve more fishermen which is necessary for a broader voluntary compliance of the Fisheries Regulations by fishers contributing to responsible fisheries and the rebuilding of the stock. Further, the project improves governance in the sector where fisherfolks will have space to act as co-managers of their resources.” “This will be a very challenging and ambitious project,” said Dr. Brian Crawford of CRC-URI who is the Project Manager. Working with the Ghanaian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) and the Fisheries Commission, the project hopes to reverse the trend in declining fish catches. Dr. Crawford said, “with improved management, tens of thousands of metric tons of high-quality, low-cost fish protein supply can be recovered, benefiting not only tens of thousands of fishermen and women processors, but improving food security for millions of people in Ghana and its neighbors in West Africa.” The project aims at ending overfishing of some key marine fish stocks like herrings, sardinella and anchovies, which are crucial to local food security; and this, will be done by: Friends of the Nation (FoN) is a socio-environmental, research and advocacy NGO, based in the Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana. FoN serves as a catalyst for increased action on good governance of natural resources including minerals, coastal resources, fisheries, oil and gas, etc. 1. Improving the legal enabling conditions for effective collaborative management of marine resources, use rights and effort-reduction strategies 2. Increasing the use of science and applied research to inform decision making and to strengthen enforcement 3. Heightening public awareness of fisheries issues to build public and political support needed to rebuild fish stocks; and 4. Implementing applied management initiatives for several targeted fisheries ecosystems With CRC as lead implementer, SFMP is a consortium of local and international Organizations, namely Friends of the Nation, Hen Mpoano, the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), SSG Advisors, the Central & Western Fishmongers Improvement Association (CEWEFIA), Daasgift Quality Foundation (DQF), Development Action Association (DAA) and Spatial Solutions. It was critically stated at a recent planning meeting for the project in Accra that, “managing fisheries is not about managing fish but rather, managing humans”. Therefore, the project also aims at contributing to deepening the information base of the drivers to incidences of unsustainable fisheries, and facilitating reduction of Child Labor and Trafficking in the fisheries sector in the Central Region; and assisting women processors and marketers to promote improved fish smoking and processing techniques. FOR QUESTIONS AND INTERVIEWS CONTACT US AT: [email protected] Please visit us at: www.fonghana.org Friends of the Nation (FoN) is a socio-environmental, research and advocacy NGO, based in the Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana. FoN serves as a catalyst for increased action on good governance of natural resources including minerals, coastal resources, fisheries, oil and gas, etc.