Gov’t closes down Chinese fish farm indefinitely after mass tilapia deaths

Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh 17:49 - 23 October 2018

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The managers of the farm have refuted claims that the destroyed fishes were imported from China. They explained that they were bred locally.

Fujian Farms, the Chinese fish farm at the center of the mass fish killings at Asutsuare, has suspended its operations indefinitely.

This is on the orders of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Last Friday, about 40 tonnes of unwholesome tilapia were destroyed by the Fisheries Commission at Asutsuare in the Greater Accra Region.

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They thus suspect fish poisoning.

President of the Ghana Aquaculture Association, Jennifer Sodji, told Accra-based Citi FM that Ghanaians must not panic but rather remain calm.

“We realized that the fishes were dying and then we alerted the fisheries commission. EPA also moved in there to investigate the fish at the farm. The general public is not supposed to be worried about it because as we speak part of that farm has been closed down.”

Some fishmongers were later found to be collecting the dead fish to be used as salted fish popularly referred to as ‘koobi’. This would have been sold to the unsuspecting customers.

However, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in a statement said it has intensified its monitoring in the affected and neighbouring communities.

“Based on rapid assessment report submitted by our team in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality which supervised the burial process closer to the Fujien Farms at Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region, Eastern Regional Secretariat of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in collaboration with Ghana Police Service have mounted a barrier at Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality which shares boundary with Asutsuare to provide 24 hours surveillance,” he said.