The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Water Research Institute are investigating claims that some foreigners are breeding a strain of tilapia in the country with steroids, and other unapproved chemicals.
The foreigners suspected to be from China, Bangladesh and India have allegedly been engaging in this acts at the various fish farming zones across the country.
The use of steroids allows fish farmers to produce bigger fish in a shorter time period with less feed.
The Fisheries Minister, Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye in a brief interaction with an Accra based newspaper ABC News confirmed receiving such claims from a section of the public but assured that “investigations are underway so people should not panic”.
Suspicions were raised after it was realised that the type of fish bred by the foreigners matures in a relatively short period compared to the tilapia specie known to Ghanaian farmers.
An average tilapia on the Ghanaian market takes about six months to mature, but the newly introduced one takes half the time, and its growth rate has been attributed to steroids.
Speaking to Starr FM, the Minister said samples had been sent to the relevant agencies such as the Water Research Institute for investigations.
“We took samples of their fish from the farm where it was suspected that the fish grew faster …and want to find out the genetic makeup of the fish and also to find out other reasons why their fish could be growing faster than the others. It could be the feed that is given to them, other factors like some medication, chemicals mixed for the fish or something. So we took samples of the fish and took them to the Water Research Institute and at the moment, the institute is trying to do some findings and some research to ascertain the genetic makeup of the fish they are growing,” she stated.
In some countries, restrictions exist on the sale of hormone treated fish unless it is proven that there are no risks to human health from consuming them. When such restrictions are in place, there is a problem created for the marketers of fish treated with hormone drugs. Marketing of treated fish is illegal in the EU countries and in India.
Many people do not want to eat food that has been altered with substances that change its basic biology. Although it can be argued that the ability of technology to provide cheap food is a good thing, new technologies often bring unintended and unwanted consequences.
