The designed project questionnaire titled: Factors and Farmer’s Practices Influencing Fish Health in Selected Farms in Uganda and Ghana was administered concurrently with sample collection in the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana. A data collection app (ODK) was used for administering questionnaires to fish farmers/farm owners. Farm owners/managers/caretakers were interviewed to obtain the socio-demographic information, fish farm management practices, fish health and management, and source of feeds and fish seed (fingerlings). Questionnaires were administered to twenty-two (22) farms randomly selected from the two regions (sixteen (16) farms in Eastern Region and six (6) farms in the Volta Region). Data obtained from this activity is currently being analyzed.

Sample collection was carried out in conjunction with questionnaire administration. Selection of fish farms and study areas within the fish zonal district were based on the five hundred and twenty (520) total active farmers in the six study regions (given by the Fisheries Commission of Ghana through the respective district/zonal officers). This comprises forty-three (43) from the Ashanti region, five (5) from the Northern region, four (4) from the Upper East region and seven (7) from the Upper West region. Sample collection from the selected fish farms were done randomly within each ecological belt. Almost, all zonal districts in the six study regions in Ghana have some fish farming activities. A total of of 59 fish farms were proposed by the team for these two ecological belts of the country (i.e., Southern and Northern Ghana).

Physico-chemical water quality parameters (i.e., Temperature, pH and Dissolved Oxygen) were determined to be within acceptable limits for aquaculture use for some fish farms. Further, other physico-chemical and biological parameters of the water samples collected was determined at the CSIR- WRI, ARDEC workstation’s laboratory in Akosombo. The Fisheries and Aquaculture research team from CSIR-WRI advised fish farmers and caretakers to seek technical knowledge and support from relevant authorities in the Aquaculture sector. The team also advised fish farmers on good management practices and biosecurity tips to enhance the sustainability and growth of fish and the aquaculture sector. Samples for bacterial pathogen isolation, (fishpond water, sediment, feed, and live fish/whole tilapia) were taken. For each farm, an average of ten (10) live fish were sampled; fish weight, length and width were measured. The sampled fishes were dissected on-site in a made-shift mobile lab under strict aseptic techniques conditions after swabbing with 70% ethanol.

The antibiotic susceptibility profiling of isolated bacteria commenced after the bacterial identification by the MALDI-TOF MS instrument at the Bacteriology laboratory of the NMIMR. Purified isolates were firstly grouped into either Gram-negative (i.e., 80%) or Gram-positive (i.e., 20%) before the identification test and afterwards, the AST analysis was carried out on the identified isolates by the disc diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility test protocol. About fourteen types of antibiotics of different classes were used for the antibiotic susceptibility profiling.

Sample collection for bacteriophage (Phage) isolation was done concurrently with sample collection for fish bacterial pathogens isolation in the Middle and Northern belts of the country. The samples were collected from the cultured tilapia systems as well as fish landing sites, fish processing plants and sewage treatment plants if available. These were the various targeted samples ranging from sludge, effluent, sediment, and fish gut which were obtained from the eight study regions of both ecological zones of Ghana. However, other targeted sites with good ecological features for the presence of bacteriophages were sampled as well.

Ghana’s phases 3 & 4 stakeholders’ sensitization meetings were held for farmed tilapia farmers in the Middle and Northern belts of the country. This programme was held after the team had collected aquaculture samples and administered questionnaires to fish farm owners/ workers in these two ecological belts. It was a one-day workshop organized on the theme: Sensitization of tilapia fish farmers in the Ashanti region (middle belt) and Upper East region (Northern belt) of Ghana. Forty-five (45) participants from across the fisheries sector in the regions participated. Stakeholders at the workshop were mainly from the Fisheries Commission (Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East, Upper East, Savanna and Northern regions), Aquaculture Research and Development Centre (ARDEC), fish farmers, Agric-businesses, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), and representatives of fish farmers from both ecological belts of Ghana

Major challenges facing most farmed tilapia farmers along the value chain included poor quality fish (i.e. fingerlings), wrongful in-breeding of fish by farmers, poor quality fish feed, inadequate fish feed supply to the hinterlands, poor storage of fish feed, wrongful use of antibiotics by farmers, introduction of foreign strains of tilapia into local farms, agro-chemicals pollution from farming areas into lakes when there is overflow therefore contaminating the water which causes fish death, lack of filtration systems at the water canals before it enters the main water body by pond system farmers, conditioning of fingerlings before transportation to reduce mortality, among others.