A new paper paints a grim picture for the future of fishing communities in the Gulf of Guinea along coastal West Africa. Faced with increasing ocean warming and declining fish stocks, fishing communities in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria struggle to survive. The paper’s authors advocate for income diversification among fishing communities as a critical adaptation strategy.
The catch of small pelagic fish in Ghana declined by 59% between 1993 and 2019, and Côte d’Ivoire by 40% between 2003 and 2020. Researchers say the declines are linked to Illegal fishing by Chinese trawlers, overfishing by traditional canoes, and climate change.
“This last factor will drive away stocks of small pelagic fish even if the illegal fishing and the overfishing is brought under control,” paper co-author Robert Paarlberg, an associate in the sustainability science program at Harvard University, told Mongabay. “Ocean warming will continue, and will continue to push down the maximum catch potential of the coastal fisheries.”
Rising sea surface temperatures have resulted in a geographic shift of small pelagic fish populations at a rate of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) per decade toward areas with more favorable water temperatures.
Another factor contributing to the crisis is illegal fishing. Often owned by Chinese companies, large trawlers violate exclusion zones reserved for local fishers, while using banned small-mesh nets. At the same time, traditional artisanal fishing fleets have grown in size and capacity, contributing further to overfishing.
Government reforms to stabilize the fisheries, including closed seasons and subsidy reviews, have produced limited results. Mongabay previously reported that fishery closures in Liberia and Sierra Leone often don’t work well due to weak enforcement or inadequate establishment.
The authors acknowledge that fishing is a cultural touchstone in the region but, as Paarlberg said, “Our survey research revealed that fishing families know their children will have to find other ways to make money in the years ahead.”
Not everyone shares this conclusion. “The study failed to highlight that fishers will remain fishers — fishing is their culture, their identity and how they remain connected to the ocean,” said Stephen Kankam from the Ghanaian NGO Hen Mpoano, who wasn’t involved with the paper.
Hen Mpoano was one of the local implementing partners of the USAID-funded Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA). One of the GFRA’s flagship interventions was to provide young fishers with vocational training to help diversify income sources, a program that came to an abrupt halt in February with the Trump administration’s freeze on USAID funding worldwide.
“The GFRA’s theory of change and learnings have emphasized diversification rather than alternative livelihoods, because fishers will always return to fishing, especially during the high fishing seasons,” Kankam said.
Banner image of fishermen in Benya Lagoon, Ghana, by Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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