Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (2014-2017) Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.

The 2014-2017 Sector Medium Term Development Plan (SMTDP) of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD) focuses on the implementation of development interventions that are intended to drive the fisheries sector and industry to contribute more effectively to the overall development of Ghana. The five prioritised integrated programs by the Policy are: Aquaculture Development (P1); Fisheries Resources Management (P2); Fisheries Law Enforcement (P3); Aquatic Animal health & Post-Harvest Management (P4); Management and Administration (P5). The medium objective of the plan is to implement the development goals and policy objectives of the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II) covering the following areas: enhancing fish production and productivity, promoting aquaculture development, expanding opportunities for job creation, improving institutional coordination for agriculture (fisheries sector) development, improving policy and institutional framework for effective coastal resource management and ensuring sustainable use of wetlands and water resources. During Plan implementation (2014-2017), MOFAD will deepen collaboration with key stakeholders (MDAs, DAs, and fishing communities) to steadily reverse the depleting fishery resources due to over exploitation especially in the marine sub-sector, and promote the overall development of the Fisheries Sector and Industry.
MOFAD further performs the integrated functions regarding formulating and implementing policies and strategies in fisheries sector, establishing functional fisheries resources data base, promoting sustainable management of aquatic resources, conducting socio-economic studies and having oversight responsibility of all agencies in the fisheries sector. The Policy provides the MOFAD organisational structure and operational scope. Chapter 2 of the Policy list the prioritised key development issues to be resolved including consistent decline in stock levels of aquatic resources, over exploitation of fish stocks, increasing national fish consumption, inadequate number of laboratories and fish health facilities, skilled labour and fishing infrastructure, weak collaboration between communities, absence of managed fish farming and lack of national aquaculture suitability map.
Aquaculture Development is the Flagship Programme of MOFAD 2014-2017 SMTDP. The principal focus of the Aquaculture component is to develop Aquaculture as economically viable enterprises through strategic investment, and institutional capacity enhancement for efficient service delivery to fish farmers in this Sub-sector. As to sustainable fisheries resources management, emphasis is being placed on the control of “fishing efforts” and aligning it to the available stocks and to ensure total compliance with Fisheries Laws and Regulations that protect the Fisheries Resources in a sustainable manner. The Management and Administration component of the Plan is intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness of planned operations of the core programmes towards the achievement of key results. The Policy consists of 7 Chapters as follow: Profile/Current Situation/baseline (1); Prioritisation of Key Development Issues (2); Development Goal, Adopted GSGDA II Objectives and Strategies (3); Development Programs and Sub-programs (4); Program of Action (2014-2017) (5); Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (6) and Communication Framework (7). The Policy has 1 Annex on technical notes.