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Twenty-five trainees have graduated after completing three months of intensive training in the practical aquaculture course at the National Aquaculture Centre and Commercial Farms, Amhrahia, in the Greater Accra Region.
The programme is fully sponsored by the government. The Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, in a speech read on her behalf by the Technical Advisor to the minister, Samuel Quartey, announced that a revision of entry requirements for the course now required a diploma from an accredited institution in any course not necessarily related to fisheries as initially required.
The change, she explained, aimed to broaden access to individuals interested in pursuing a career in aquaculture production. Since the inception of the training programme, she said 72 students, comprising 46 males and 26 females, had been trained in advanced fish farming using scientific methods and covered practical areas such as water analysis, fish anatomy, fish nutrition, reproduction and farm management.
She said five graduates from the centre were currently undergoing internships with aquaculture establishments in Israel as part of an annual exchange programme. The opportunity, she said, allowed the graduates to gain hands-on experience and apply the knowledge acquired during their studies.
The Minister acknowledged the challenges facing the aquaculture industry, such as the high cost of aquaculture inputs, inadequate market for cultured fish and disease outbreaks.
The Executive Director of Agritop, managers of the facility, Tomer Novotny, expressed profound gratitude to the government and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Development for their unwavering support in establishing the National Aquaculture Centre and entrusting Agritop with the crucial task of training future aquaculture professionals.
"We appreciate the trust given to us to train these great trainees because developing the human resource is the most important task of all," stated Mr Novotny.
The Academic Manager, Prince Kwame Boakye, applauded the trainees for their commitment and discipline throughout the thirteen-week programme. He encouraged graduates to take the skills and knowledge gained during the course and make a positive impact in their communities.
The trainees received certificates, with Valentine Viel emerging as the overall best trainee. He took home a citation, a plaque and a certificate.
