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18th Apr 13

Managed by Chatham House

Financed by DEFRA

Ghana

Fisheries contribute 3% of Ghana's GDP and up to 2 million people are supported by the fishing sector. The most important use of fish in Ghana is domestic consumption and up to 60% of animal protein is thought to be derived from fish products. 12% of national fish product is exported, with the most important foreign exchange earner being canned tuna. Other exports include fresh tuna, plus tilapia and shark fin, which are described variously as 'frozen fish', 'salted fish' or 'smoked fish'.

The sector is broken down into artisanal, semi-industrial/inshore and industrial. Artisanal fishing with canoes, many of which are motorised, utilises purse seines, beach seiners, set nets, draft gill nets and hook and line, and contributes 60-70% of marine fish output. The semi-industrial fleet consists of locally built wooden vessels which use trawls or purse seines.

The industrial vessels are foreign-built trawlers, shrimpers, tuna pole and line vessels, and purse seiners. Demersal pair trawling was recently introduced but was suspended by the government in August 2007 to protect the artisanal industry. An assessment will now be carried out of the effects of pair trawling on other operators in the industry.

By law industrial trawlers must operate in waters deeper than 30m. The Department of Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Division, in collaboration with the Ghana Navy, conducts sea patrols to ensure the exclusion of industrial vessels from inshore waters. However, there have been a number of recent cases in which artisanal fishers have been injured or killed, or had their nets destroyed by trawlers invading inshore waters. The MCS Division also carries out quayside inspection of industrial vessels checking for valid licenses, legality of fishing gear, skippers' certificates, log books and crew composition.

documents (2)
news (63)
profiles (1)

documents

Corruption and Industrial Fishing in Africa
01/12/2008
Africas marine resources are increasingly in demand and are gaining in geopolitical importance. Competition between key fishing nations for access and ...
Author: Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (Andre Standing)

Fishing for the truth: is Europe really destroying African fisheries industry?
29/07/2008
This brief document attempts to answer criticisms of the European Partnership Agreements (EPAs) on fisheries, countering claims that EPAs have negativ ...
Author: Directorate General for Trade, European Commission

news

profiles

Peter Eade
I can help to design and provide Monitoring Control and Surveillance solutions (including VMS) for Fisheries Authorities worlwide. ...

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