Effects of climate change on fishing sector

Dear Editor,

Climate change has been a pressing issue as it reshapes our oceans and threatens marine life and coastal communities who rely on it.

Climate change, which results from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, leads to global warming. None­theless, the rising sea temperature and ocean acidification, which are some effects of climate change, have had a great impact on fish.

The warming of the ocean and the increased acidity of its waters have disturbed the habitat of marine eco­systems and had an impact on their population.

This has caused alterations in the way fish migrate, the availability of their food, and their overall produc­tivity.

Fish populations, a primary protein source for billions, are migrating to cooler waters for survival, leaving traditional fishing grounds barren and fishermen’s nets empty.

This imposes economic hardship on coastal communities as well as the local economy as it contributes to about some percentage.

In Ghana, fisheries contribute 4.5 per cent to the annual gross domestic product (GDP) and indirectly support the livelihoods of 2.2 million people in Ghana.

This speaks volumes of the effect this global phenomenon is having on people who feed directly on this sec­tor and their dependents.

It has affected fish stock. The little they get is not enough to support their families.

Interacting with a section of these fisher folks, they all appear to be fac­ing the same issues of smaller harvest and catching fingerlings more than the matured ones.

On the market, people find them unattractive and costly. As a result, they end up selling them at low pric­es, leading to substantial losses.

Some children have dropped out of school because their parents are un­able to pay their school fees because of this development.

Clearly, climate change has cast a huge shadow over marine life and coastal communities, altering their way of life.

This is the time for us to see posi­tive outcomes from the many interna­tional meetings and workshops trying to find a solution to this.

Gloria Tettey

gloriatettey808@gmail.com

UNIMAC-IJ (Faculty of Journalism)