This archive report was first published on 31 July 2019.
On the shores of Ghana's capital Accra, fish vendor Mercy Allotey waits for customers to buy the freshest catch brought in by brightly-coloured dugout canoes. However, she complains that local fishermen are now netting less and less due to a combination of illegal techniques and unscrupulous trawlers that have devastated stocks.
The fishing sector is vital to Ghana's economy, providing support for over two million people and accounting for about 60 percent of the protein in the diet of Ghanaians. However, production has fallen drastically, from almost 420,000 tonnes in 1999 to 202,000 tonnes in 2014, according to United Nations data.
Illegal fishing practices, including the use of bright lights to attract fish, poisoning them with chemicals, and even tossing dynamite into the water, are to blame. A report by Ghanaian NGO Hen Mpoano and the European Environmental Justice Foundation estimated that the trawlers cost the country's economy around $50 million a year.
The report also found that some 100,000 tonnes of fish were scooped out of the water in 2017 through a practice known locally as 'saiko', where trawlers illegally target the staple catch of local fishermen and sell it to communities on shore via middlemen.
The Ghanaian government is looking to crack down on saiko and other illegal practices. In a bid to replenish stocks, the government banned artisanal fishing for a month from May to June and will forbid trawlers in August and September.
However, even those in charge admit that a lot more needs to be done to rectify the situation. 'The big challenge is a complete understanding of the system by policymakers and everybody down the line down to the fisherman,' said Emmanuel Kwafo, who is in charge of fisheries law enforcement at Ghana's navy.
He emphasized the need for a fundamental shift in Ghana from a mindset where illegal methods are seen as permissible to make ends meet. 'When we do the right thing, we rather enhance our chances of survival,' he said.
