Stress cause of death of fishes washed ashore – Investigations reveal

Preliminary investigations by the Fisheries Commission have revealed that the fishes which were washed ashore in some parts of the country’s coast died as a result of stress-related factors.

This is according to Peter Zedah, the head of Fish Health Unit at the Fisheries Commission who spoke to Citi News.

He disclosed that while further investigations are ongoing to unravel the full story, the initial findings point to stress as the cause for the death of the fishes.

He stated that the gills and kidneys of the fishes have been sent for histopathological analysis.

“Our initial investigations have proven that the fishes died as a result of some stress factors. For the [exact] stress factors, we are still investigating,” he said.

“Whether they were poisonous or not, we cannot tell because the other people are doing some pesticide testing.”

“When that one [the histopathological analysis] comes, we can say it is confirmatory but for now, the fishes were stressed, and they came [out].”

Touching on the condition of the fishes, Zedah said, “looked good, so it gives you the impression that maybe some environmental factors may have caused their death.”

Over the weekend certain types of fishes were found on the shores of some beaches in the country, notably Osu in Greater Accra and Axim-Bewire in the Western Region.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Fisheries has warned persons who have consumed the fishes to come forth.

Mavis Hawa Koomson, the sector Minister urged persons who have consumed the fishes to cooperate with the investigators.

“I want to use this opportunity to plead with the community – if anyone has taken or consumed the fish please own up, so we can address any problems that may arise out of the consumption,” she appealed.

She added that, “Please cooperate with us and own up, so we can monitor you to know your health situation. If there are some in the market, please let us withdraw them. We are doing our best to know what caused that situation.”