By providing employment opportunities, goods for export, and large sums of food, Ghana’s fish market is extremely important to its economy and the everyday lives of many of its citizens, but overfishing practices have created serious strains on this important market. Government agencies have been forced to address this issue multiple times; the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture has declared that the month of August will be a closed fishing season, which was preceded by a closed season through January and February of this year.
The purpose of a closed season is for fish stock to be able to replenish. While fishers experience a loss of profits, they are presented with time to repair vessels and nets.
In 2014, capture fishing collectively employed 252,000, with 175,000 working in inland environments and 77,000 in marine. Aquaculture, or fish farms, employed an additional 11,800. There are approximately 29,000 vessels currently being used for fishing, however, roughly half of them do not have a motor.
Due to its locality and relative affordable price, fish provides an important source of protein in Ghana. The per capita average annual consumption of fish in Ghana is approximately 24 kg, which makes up 60% of the average amount of animal protein consumed. For Ghanaians households, an average of 25% of total food expenditures are on fish.
The majority fish caught is consumed domestically, yet imports of fish have steadily been rising, creating concerns within the government. In 2016, Ghana imported $310M of fish in 2016, up dramatically from the $88M imported in 2000. Ghana imports most of its fish from other African states but also from parts of Europe and Asia.
As Ghana’s fish imports have been quickly increasing, its domestic production value of fish have been decreasing at similarly alarming rates. In 2016, Ghana’s fish produced had an export value of $11.9M in 2016, in 2000 the export value of fish was $88.2M.
Demand for fish still remains high during closed seasons, and the lure of profits leads to significant amounts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing is vastly detrimental as it results in a loss of tax revenue for the state and causes supplementary harm to fish stock as finer nets are commonly used which often capture premature fish. While the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, as well as President Akufo-Addo, have previously made multiple strong condemnations on IUU fishing, there still is an absence of a strong and comprehensive enforcement method.
August is during the middle of the peak fish harvest season, meaning that this closed season could be especially effective in the replenishment of fish stock, however, there are also the highest incentives to partake in IUU fishing.
While a significant lack of enforcement remains, steps have been taken in attempts to hinder this issue. USAID has worked closely with The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the creation and implementation of the USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP). This 5 year project, which began in 2014, is focused on developing healthy fish stock in Ghana by teaching and implementing sustainable fishing practices, primarily through public information campaigns and partnerships with education institutions, such as the University of Cape Coast. This program has received roughly $24M by USAID.
Illegal fishing is currently costing Ghana multiple millions of dollars but the depletion of its fish stocks would be extremely more costly.
By Andrew David (Intern)
