The government of Liberia through the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) is sourcing an additional $5Million United States dollars for the establishment of a Regional Center of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences to be hosted in Liberia.
“The Government of Liberia is sourcing an additional US$5 million dollars for the establishment of the Regional Center of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences to be hosted here in Liberia”.
The disclosure was made Tuesday May 30th, 2023 by the Director General of NaFAA, Madam Emma Metieh Glassco when she served as the 103rd commencement convocation Keynote Speaker at the University of Liberia’s Fendell Campus in Louisiana, Montserrado County for the combined Thomas J.R. Faulkner College of Sciences and Technology, School of Nursing and Midwifery, William R. Tubman Jr College of Agriculture and Forestry, and Engineering Colleges.
Madam Glassco informed graduates of the Science Colleges that considering the appreciable level of development in the fisheries sector, skilled people are still needed in areas such as boat construction, fish handling and processing, fishing gear production, feed production, fish pon construction, hatchery and management among others.
It can be recalled, on January 25, 2023, the University of Liberia in collaboration with the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) launched a fisheries science degree program on its Capitol Hill campus in Monrovia.
The grand launch which was hugely attended by top officials of the government including the Vice President Madam Jewel Howard Taylor, representatives of the World Bank, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) among other now creates an opportunity for Liberian students to acquire knowledge in fisheries science locally.
The Fisheries Boss assured that NaFAA will enhance skills development for the informal labor workforce of the fishing sector which constitutes more than 75% as well as its formal sector and is calling on other stakeholders to emulate same initiative of NaFAA.
She said the greatest economies in the world such as the USA, Great Britain, Germany and Japan have a greater portion of their workforce based on technical skilled labor as such they are referred to as lands of opportunities.
In addition to the many degrees and in the spirit of diversifying the economy, she said the Liberian government should also look towards skills development as a crucial catalyst in academic institutions and inclusion of technical vocations within universities.
Madam Glassco noted that acquiring these skills in addition to a degree provides competitive advantage and enhance private sector growth through the creation of small/medium scale enterprises. “This is more jobs creating than job seeking” the Liberian fisheries boss noted.
The Liberian Fisheries Director General revealed that her greatest goal is to make Liberia an export-based economy for fish and seafood products serving international markets, thus attracting foreign earnings to help in strengthening the local dollar value thereby contributing to GDP with the utmost objective of transitioning from subsistence fishing to semi-industrial or industrial fishing.
She said with ongoing efforts by the current administration of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) Liberia is at the verged of becoming a fishing nation.