Projects
Policy Project: Animal Welfare, Biosecurity, and Food Safety.
Regulations on Pre-Slaughter Stunning Requirements in Ghana: This project aims to establish clear, species-specific guidelines for pre-slaughter stunning to reduce biosecurity risks and ensure humane practices in slaughterhouses across Ghana.
FISH FIRST Project
Ghana's aquaculture sector is among the fastest-growing in Africa. Cage farming on Lake Volta produces about 90% of Ghana's farmed fish, and Nile tilapia represents 80 to 95% of output, making tilapia the primary welfare priority species.
Production has grown steeply: from approximately 7,500 metric tons in 2009 to 100,000 metric tons by 2023, with a national target of 177,000 metric tons by 2027. At an average harvest weight of 400g, current production represents approximately 250 million individual fish per year. As supply scales, the number of fish exposed to welfare risks scales with it.
Welfare stakes are concentrated among a small number of decision-makers. About 101 producers account for nearly 90% of tilapia production. One producer alone accounted for an estimated 10 to 15% of total output in 2024. A welfare failure in a single large operation can affect very large numbers of fish at once.
Thinking about Fish First's advocacy for enforceable fish welfare regulations in Ghana
What FISH FIRST Does
Fish First advocates for the inclusion of enforceable fish welfare regulations in Ghana's national legal framework