Small-scale fishing: Ghana bans new boats until 2026 – In Ghana, fishing provides over 80% of the local fish supply. Faced with the threat of depleted stocks, the government is implementing strategies to promote sustainable management of fisheries resources.
In Ghana, the construction and commissioning of new boats for small-scale coastal fishing will be banned for the next three years. This was announced by Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, on 14 September.
The new measure is due to come into force on October 1. According to the Minister, the main aim of the initiative is to reduce the number of boats operating in the sector in order to ease the pressure on pelagic fish stocks.
According to official figures, artisanal fishing accounts for more than 70% of the annual pelagic fish catch.
“Our small-scale fishermen have engaged in activities that have contributed to overcapacity, overfishing, low productivity and low profitability in the marine fisheries sector,”
deplores Ms Koomson.
For example, she points out that landings of small pelagic fish have fallen from 119,000 tonnes in 1990 to just 20,000 tonnes in 2022.
Ghana has a coastline of almost 550 kilometres. In the country, the artisanal fishing fleet was made up of more than 20,000 boats, according to Usda data dating from 2019.
Small-scale fishing: Ghana bans new boats until 2026
