22 •
SFMP Communications Specialist •
SFMP Senior Fisheries Advisor. Pre-departure briefings on Philippines context will be provided by the CoP, who lived and
worked in the Philippines SSG will plan the itinerary in consultation with the CoP and provide a local consultant to lead
and co-facilitate meetings. On the participants return from the Philippines, the SFMP communications officer will undertake a communications campaign to highlight lessons learned
and share with a wider audience of stakeholders in Ghana.
Table of Key Activities and Milestones
Who Activity 1.4 National level support for small-pelagics
management plan
Q1 Q2
Q3 Q4
SSGCRC Study tour planning X
SSG Study tour implementation
X CRC
Study tour outreach and communications strategy X
List of Key Outputs •
Study tour agenda and objectivesdesign •
Briefing pack •
Report after completion [POL018]
1.5 Harmonizing Regional Fisheries Policies
Activity Lead: Lazar
Activity Team: Lazar, MFRD
Sardinella stocks are a trans-boundary resource that extends beyond the borders of Ghana from Nigeria to Liberia with highest abundance between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Recent information
on the status of stock reveals it to be severely overfished while the demand for fish continues to increase, making Ghana one of the largest importers of fish in the sub-region. The domestic
artisanal fisheries are not meeting domestic demand, driven by lack of availability as a result of overfishing high fishing mortality and low biomass and climate change. The fishing gears used
are similar from one country to another and fishermen migrate continuously between Ghana and neighboring countries with their boats and fishing equipment. Markets are also expanding
beyond borders and imports from Senegal are becoming more common due to the development of cross-border trade. Consequently, special attention will focus on IUU fishing following CRC’s
extensive work in the region, mainly in Senegal, The Gambia and through collaboration with the University of British Columbia on catch reconstruction models.
While the overall strategy for SFMP is founded on a bottom-up fisheries co-management process focused on capacity building of stakeholders and local and national institutions, it is essential to
23 link it with the regional research and management at the stock range level. It will be based on a
process approach in which the bottom-up capacity building will be conducted in the first phases of the project while supporting on a parallel track a full engagement of the FC and stakeholders
with the regional efforts of the FCWC on fisheries research, management and economic growth. These are needed to address issues of broader management and contribute to the development of
new and innovative regional policies for fisheries management.
Research will also focus on the status of the stock and the impact of climate change on the abundance and distribution of Sardinella stocks. We recognize studies on the potential regime
shift in the GCLME, suggesting northward shift and offshore migration of the epicenter of the Sardinella stock. It is important to delineate between climate-related impacts and overfishing on
small pelagics production. Emphasis will be placed on the active participation of all partners government, research, fishing communities, etc. to ensure full engagement and maximum data
input and information in the decision making process.
The SFMP will strengthen national institutions MOFAD and FC to engage and coordinate efforts on fisheries stock assessment and management with the FCWC andor GCLME. This will allow
continuous feedback and coordination on the regional strategy with the management initiatives taken by Ghana on all aspects of fisheries research, and management.
Regional fisheries activities in Year 1 will include development of a research agenda in coordination with the Marine Fisheries Research Division and in collaboration with the FCWC.
Potential research topics that may be supported in subsequent years include the following. Where possible, we will try to engage UCC scientists in this work and collaborating URI
researchers where appropriate:
• Influence of environmental conditions on abundance and distribution of Sardinella sp in
the Gulf of Guinea. •
Species and stock identification terms of reference developed DNA-analysis •
The role and contribution of migrating fishermen of Ghana in West Africa. The SFMP will support the participation of selected members of the national scientific and
technical working group at the regional meetings of the GCLME and FCWC. This will strengthen the capacity of the scientific group, encourage exchange and coordination of
information and management measures of Sardinella at the regional level and coordinate efforts to estimate and combat IUU fishing. While not listed as an activity under this component, the
small pelagic fisheries value chain study described in Section 2.5 will include in its scope, extent of regional trade into and out of Ghana of small pelagics fish products.
Table of Key Activities and Milestones
Who Activity 1.5 Harmonizing regional fisheries policies
Q1 Q2
Q3 Q4
CRC Regional fisheries management coordination Trips to
FCWC regional meetings, IUU regional management of species
X X
X
CRC TOR for stock identification study developed with FC,
FCWF and UCCURI collaborative research. X
X
24
List of Key Outputs •
SOW for small pelagics stock identification •
Regional fisheries management coordination meeting trip report [POL019]
1.6 Informing the U.S. Government on Key Fisheries Policy Issues in Ghana
