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SECTION A: FISHERIES AND COASTAL ZONE GOVERNANCE IN THE WESTERN REGION OF GHANA: CASE STUDY OF
COMMUNITY-BASED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES
By Henrietta Abane
1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In many parts of the developing world, poor rural people depend on commonly-held resources for their livelihoods and to sustain their socio-cultural identities. These are common
pool resources and include forests, grazing lands, fish stocks and water resources. Common pool resources refer to natural resources where one person’s use subtracts from another’s use
and where it is often necessary, but difficult and costly to exclude other users outside the group from using the resource Ostrom, 2000. Such resources underpin the livelihoods of
millions of people throughout the world. In particular they are important to poor people who have few alternative economic alternatives.
Global fisheries production has increased rapidly over the past half century with developing countries being the major producers. Fisheries provide employment for over 38 million
people 95 of which live in developing countries FAO, 2004. Total employment in fisheries and related activities such as trade, input supplies and fish processing probably
exceeds 150 million people IDDRA, 2005; FAO, 2004. Trade in fish products between developing countries and markets in developed countries is a major source of foreign
exchange for developing countries IDDRA, 2005a. Fisheries can also provide a contribution to household cash income. Such household cash income gives access to other
benefits such as education and health services as well as allows investment in other assets land, livestock, fishing gear etc which in turn can further reduce vulnerability to poverty
IDDRA, 2005. Again, fish is an important food source with 60 of people in developing countries depending on it for at least 30 of their animal protein supplies IDDRA, 2005;
FAO, 2004.
1.1 Marine fishing in Ghana
The fishing industry in the country made up of marine and inland fisheries, plays an important role in its contribution to the GDP 3.9, employment, livelihood strategies, food
security and poverty reduction of participants and their dependants Bank of Ghana, 2008. Marine fishing in Ghana is done in two main areas. First is the off-shore region up to a limit
of about 200 miles known as the Economic Exclusive Zone aka EEZ; and second in the continental shelf World Bank, 1995. The EEZ accounts for about 10 of marine fish
production. Within the continental shelf, fishing is carried out by artisanal fishers operating from about 200 fishing villages along the coastline, inshore and semi-industrial light bottom
trawlers, and large distant water freezer trawlers and shrimpers World Bank, 1995.
Artisanal fishing in particular contributes about 70 – 80 of the total annual volume of marine fish catch of the country. The main species exploited are anchovy, sardinella,
mackerels and burrito. In the Western region a 2004 census indicated that there were 75 fishing villages, 100 landing sites, 3,246 canoes and a total of 27,366 fishermen involved in
artisanal marine fishing Bank of Ghana, 2008.
4 There is a gender division of labour in the organization of artisanal fishing in the country.
Men naturally undertake fish harvesting while women are key in the offshore post harvest activities including processing, storage and trade. Within the fishing communities, whole
households undertake one form of activity or the other. While over 150,000 fishers are directly engaged in marine capture fisheries in the country, it is estimated countrywide that
between 1.5 million and 2 million people in households are also engaged in the artisanal marine fishing industry. In addition to such fishing households about 500,000 other people
get employed in the processing, trade, canoe building, packaging and transport industry all ancillary to the artisanal marine fishing industry Bank of Ghana, 2008; Mensah et al., 2006.
Fishery-related livelihoods are vulnerable for a variety of reasons. Fish stocks are migratory, the seas provide a hostile environment and the product is perishable. Moreover fisheries are
vulnerable to overexploitation of the resource. Fish stocks may have to contend with external shocks and trends that relate to environmental degradation and climate change. Marine fish is
a naturally occurring common pool resource with open access. An influential narrative on the degradation or depletion of such commonly held resources has centred on Hardin’s ‘the
tragedy of the commons’ Hardin, 1968. Common pool resources with open access become degraded or over utilized because a great part of the cost of overutilization by individual
users is passed on to other users. Individuals thus would increase the utility of an open access resource in so far as they do not bear the full cost of overutilization and in the face of no
social control mechanism. Many countries have tried to put in place institutions and management systems in the fisheries sector that deal with the state and traditional
arrangements. In the case of marine fishing in Ghana, there is an absence of a well defined property rights and thus access is highly unregulated. It is the recognition of such
overexploitation of marine fisheries that the Government of Ghana in its Medium-Term Agricultural Development Strategy MTADS discussed with the World Bank, sought to
develop resource management plans for the fisheries sector and facilitate a regulatory framework for the management plans World Bank, 2003.
This document reports on the governance system and issues that relate to artisanal fisheries along the western coast of Ghana. In particular it addresses why efforts by the state to
strengthen community based fisheries management to protect the resource and ensure sustainability of the industry failed.
1.2 Governance in fisheries
