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Ghanaian authorities are investigating the deaths of hundreds of dolphins and fish that have washed up on Ghanaian beaches in recent days, over growing fears that contaminated fish have been sold to customers.
Since Friday, species from the Dead Sea have littered the beaches of Accra and the coast of the capital. Officials said nearly 100 dead dolphins washed up on Axim beach, while videos posted on social media showed dozens of diverse species, including eels and several species of fish.
Ghana’s fisheries commission said it had taken laboratory samples of the animals and the waters in recent days, as the cause remained unknown.
A commission official, Dr Peter Zedah, told local media on Wednesday that investigations were underway, but initial findings showed that “the environment” and “stressors” had caused the death. Some of the fish studied “looked good, so it gives you the impression that maybe some environmental factors may have caused their deaths,” he said.
Officials on Tuesday asked those who allegedly consumed the fish to come forward as part of their investigations, and Ghana’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mavis Koomson, urged fishermen in Accra to “cooperate with the Fisheries Commission and FDA as they investigated incidents of dead fish washing up on our shores ”.
Fears have also emerged for the fate of some marine mammals, such as the endangered subspecies Atlantic humpback dolphin along the West African coast.
Workers at the OR Foundation, an NGO that studies the impact of second-hand clothing waste on Ghana’s marine environment, had seen several fish on the beaches since Friday, many of which were still dead as of Tuesday evening.
“When we went yesterday, there were still fish on the shore,” said Liz Ricketts, co-founder of the group. “Rays, lots of eels. In the morning we saw over 20 eels on part of the beach. We walked the beach again in the evening and basically within 100 yards there were 82 fish and eels, mostly eels, and these weren’t there before, ”she said.
Poverty in fishing communities has led many fishermen to make tough decisions about whether to go to sea in recent days, she said.
“These are communities of artisanal fishermen. They struggle again for many reasons, because of the [sea] waste and also because of the development going on in the area and how it affects their livelihoods, ”Ricketts said. “And so you add this on top of it and it’s not really an option for them not to go out to sea.
“We saw a few bags full of fish where people had clearly come to collect the fish and then changed their minds,” she added.
Over the past year, similar massive dolphin deaths have occurred on other parts of the African coastline.
In February, 111 dolphins were found dead in Mozambique, which officials say were likely killed by low tide after a cyclone.
Last year, 52 dead dolphins were also found dead on the coast of Mauritius due to barotrauma, a condition caused by exposure to pressure changes resulting from sonar, explosions, earthquakes and eruptions. volcanic.
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