Suspected case of tilapia Lake virus: EPA to release full report soon

• Posted on October 22, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has promised to make available a detailed report on what might have led to the death of some tonnes of tilapia at Fujian farms at Asutuare in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

The Chinese fish farm, whose 40 tons of tilapia have been destroyed suspects a case of fish poisoning.

Speaking on the issue after tour of the farm, Carl Fiate, Director of Natural Resources at the Environmental Protection Agency, said the investigations are being carried out to ascertain the cause of the incident.

He further disclosed that the EPA will in the next two weeks release a full report on the matter

“We believe that within the next fortnight, we should be able to come out with a report. We have to determine which kind of poison and where it is coming from and that will help us to determine what kind of action to take.”

“We have sampled along the river right from Asutuare. We have collected some water samples and we are now going to analyze to determine if there is any causative factor that has accounted for the situation”, he noted.

NADMO in 24-hour surveillance at Akuse over ‘outbreak of Tilapia Lake virus’

The National Disaster and Management Organization (NADMO) has also mounted a barrier at Akuse in the Eastern Region to provide 24-hour surveillance to check what it said could be an outbreak of tilapia lake virus.

According to NADMO, the move is to ensure that “no person smuggles any dead tilapia to be sold to the general public.”

in a statement, NADMO said it has intensified its observation mechanisms in the affected and surrounding communities to ensure that the situation is brought under control.

“Based on rapid assessment report submitted by our team in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipalty which supervised the burial process closer to the Fujian 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.”

Asutsuare unwholesome tilapia situation under control – Fisheries Ministry

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development has assured the public that it is safe to buy tilapia from the market.

Chief Director of the Ministry, Prof. Francis Nunoo, said enough measures have already been put in place to ensure that the Ministry is aware of the circumstances that led to the situation.

“We have sent our officers to the ground. We have added fish and fish experts and agriculturists from Accra to go and help contain the situation. We have ensured that no dead or contaminated fish goes out. We will continue to monitor and pick up samples to test the quality of the fish, the water and all other parameters before we will be able to come out categorically that this is the problem.”

Fisher-folk found carting dead tilapia from Asutsuare for ‘koobi’

Some locals believed to be fishmongers from Volivo, Alabonya and Aveloenye near Asutsuare in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region, were seen carting the dead tilapia for processing as dry salted fish locally known as ‘koobi’.

Although authorities are yet to determine what killed the fishes which were seized by the Fisheries Commission, the fishmongers are secretly carting the dead fish for sale to the unsuspecting public.