RISKS TO COASTAL FISHERIES IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA

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RISKS TO COASTAL FISHERIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

• K.A. Koranteng
• Marine Fisheries Research Division
• P.O. Box BT-62,
• Tema, GHANA
• kwamek_at_africaonline.com.gh

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INTRODUCTION

• The rich living marine resources of the seas
  around Africa provide livelihood and employment
  for thousands of fishers, foreign exchange for
  governments and food security for the peoples in
  and out of the region.
• In Ghana, it is estimated that about 10 of the
  population derive their livelihood from marine
  fisheries alone.

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• The fishery resources of the region are both
  locally important resident stocks and
  transboundary straddling and migratory stocks
• With the exception of the tuna fishing fleet, all
  vessels operate in about the same area and target
  similar species. This generates conflict among
  the fleets, especially between the artisanal and
  the trawler fleets.

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INTRODUCTION

• The productivity of coastal waters is dependent
  on ocean processes like upwelling, the health of
  mangrove forests, coral reefs, and seagrass beds
  and the amount and quality of runoff from the
  rivers. The western side of SSA includes some of
  the important upwelling ecosystems in the world

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• On the eastern side of SSA the air temperature at
  sea level rarely falls below 20C and seawater
  temperature is usually between 20-30C. Ocean
  currents are an important feature that strongly
  influence the distribution of marine organisms
  and the availability of nutrients.

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INTRODUCTION

• The wealth of estuaries, deltas, coastal lagoons,
  and coral reefs also contribute significantly to
  the diversity of fish life in the region.
• Fishing in coastal lagoons, estuaries and creeks
  is also an important economic activity.

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INTRODUCTION

• Fundamentally, the multiplicity of gears in the
  artisanal fisheries and the sophistication of
  certain industrial fisheries have lead to
  conflicts between the sectors and
  overexploitation of the fishery resources.

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INTRODUCTION

• In this presentation, the nature of coastal
  fisheries in sub-Saharan Africa and the major
  issues that affect them are discussed.
• Key management interventions are proposed
  including areas for regional collaboration in
  research and management.

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OVERVIEW OF COASTAL FISHERIES IN SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA

• The continental shelf in SSA varies considerably
  from area to area but is generally narrow,
  especially in the mid belt.
• The Island States in the region are equally less
  endowed with continental shelf area.

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• Thus, throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, coastal
  fishing tends to be artisanal with up to 70
  percent of fish landings attributed to artisanal
  fishers in some countries.
• The fisheries in the west African sub-region are
  characterized by the dominance of small pelagic
  species, that account for nearly 50 of total
  catches.
• Small pelagic species include sardinellas, bonga,
  mackerels and anchovy.

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• There are also significant industrial (mainly
  demersal fisheries) involving both national and
  foreign fleets (mainly from EU, eastern Europe,
  Korea and Japan).
• The most important exploited species include
  those of the families Sparidae, Sciaenidae,
  Lutjanidae and Penaeidae.
• These resources are also exploited by both
  artisanal and industrial fisheries.

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• In the East Africa sub-Region the artisanal
  fishery catch is dominated by relatively limited
  number of specific groups, namely scavengers
  (rabbitfish, barracudas), small pelagic species
  crustacea (crabs and lobsters), and molluscs
  (oysters and octopus).

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OVERVIEW OF COASTAL FISHERIES
Landings from Western Indian Ocean
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OVERVIEW OF COASTAL FISHERIES

• Landings from Eastern
  Atlantic

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• Overexploitation of fishery resources was
  identified by all eleven countries that
  participated in the first phase of the African
  Process, as being amongst the top five GIWA
  issues in terms of their impacts on the coastal
  zone and the livelihood of coastal communities.
• Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) exceeds sustainable
  yields in many countries while species diversity
  and average body lengths of the most important
  fish species have declined.

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• In the Gulf of Guinea, for example, the most
  significant changes in the abundance of fish
  species in the last three decades are
• Fluctuations in abundance of sardinella species
• Dramatic increase and subsequent decline in
  abundance of triggerfish (Balistes capriscus)
• Recent discovery of large quantities of live
  scallops (Chlamys purpuratus and Pecten jacobeus
  ) in coastal waters
• Increase in abundance of tiger prawns (Penaeus
  monodon) in coastal waters

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OVERVIEW OF COASTAL FISHERIES

• Changes in status and diversity of species in
  sub-Saharan Africa have been attributed to both
  natural and anthropogenic factors as well as
  nearshore biophysical processes.
• The story of overexploitation of coastal
  resources is the same throughout SSA

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STATUS OF TARGET SPECIES (GHANA _
WEST AFRICA)
 

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Mozambique, eastern Africa

• Shallow-water prawns Intensive
• Mundle prawns Intensive
• Deep-water prawns Moderate
• Deep-water Lobster Intensive
• Crayfish Moderate
• Deep-water crab Moderate
• Rock lobster Low
• Mangrove crab Low

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• Large Demersals moderate
• Large pelagics Very low
• Sharks Low
• Small demersals Low
• Small pelagics Low
• Deep-water fish Low
•  

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MAJOR ISSUES THAT AFFECT COASTAL FISHERIES IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

• Fishery Related
• Overfishing
• Use of destructive fishing gears and practices
• Small and large-scale fisheries conflicts
  
• Post-harvest losses
  

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• The underlying cause of over-exploitation by
  artisanal fishers, is poverty.
• For industrial fisheries, overcapitalisation is
  the primary cause of over-exploitation.

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MAJOR ISSUES..

• Infrastructure and capacity for management
• Inadequate information/research support for
  management
• Limited personnel (brain drain) and technical
  capabilities
• Limited resources/funding
  
  
• Lack of institutional coordination/collaboration

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• MAJOR ISSUES..
• Policy
• Inadequate policy and legal framework
• Insufficient/ineffective law enforcement
•  

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MAJOR ISSUES..

• Nearshore forcing factors and productivity of
  coastal waters
• Siltation / sedimentation of coastal lagoons
• Coastal erosion and effect on landing sites of
  artisanal fishers
• Habitat degradation/destruction (coral reefs)
  
• Mangrove clearing for urbanisation and food
  production
• Damming of rivers and reduction of fiver
  discharge
•  

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MAJOR ISSUES ..

• Pollution (Land-based sources and marine)
• Industrial pollution
• Agrochemical loading
  
• Domestic/sewage pollution
• Oil spills
•  

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Pollution ..

• Pollution from oil and gas exploration is a
  potential danger for coastal fisheries. E.G. In
  Nigeria oil is produced from the Niger Delta
  (over 90 oil fields, about 6,200 km of flowlines
  and pipelines spread over 30,000 km2 of the
  Delta).

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Pollution ..

• Pollution from land-based sources,
  agrochemicals and the use of harmful fishing
  methods have been identified as factors that
  adversely affect coastal fisheries, especially in
  lagoons, estuaries and on coral reefs.

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MAJOR ISSUES ..

• Physical alteration and modification of coastal
  habitats including coastal erosion is a potential
  source of danger for coastal fisheries.
• Over-fishing in coral reef habitats causes reef
  degradation and adversely affect productivity and
  biodiversity.

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Mitigating Factors

• Important management interventions that would
  address some of the risk factors are summarised
  below

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Mitigating Factors..

• Limited entry and effort reduction
• Zoning of fishery waters
• Establishment of marine protected areas
• Restructuring of relevant policy and regulatory
  frameworks
• Redirection of systems of subsidies/support
• Enhancement of alternative livelihood and
  occupational mobility

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Mitigating Factors..

• Spatial and temporal restrictions on certain
  fishing gears
• Technological control/limitations
• Enforcement of gear regulations
• Spatial restrictions (i.e. marine sanctuaries)
• Temporal restrictions (i.e. seasonal closures)

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• Institutional strengthening/upgrading
• Upgrading of technical personnel and facilities
• Improvement of financial capability and mandates
  of organizations
• Enhancement of research and information
• Establishment of appropriate fisheries management
  reference points
• Initiation of policy and institutional studies

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• Projects proposed in the GEF-MSP/ African
  Process for sub-Saharan Africa
•  
• Assessment and Mitigation of the Ecological and
  Socio-economic Impacts of Destructive Fishing
  Practices
• Mariculture Development (Plymouth university
  experiment with Red snapper)

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GEF-MSP Fisheries Projects .

• Impact of Global Climate Change on Key Marine and
  Coastal Ecosystems
• Strengthening Management and Monitoring, Control
  and Surveillance (MCS) Capacity of Fisheries
  Management Organisations

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• Regional Cooperative Efforts for Joint
  Management of Fisheries in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Regional Seas Conventions (UNEP)

• Abidjan Convention for Co-operation in the
  Protection, Management and Development of the
  Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and
  Central African Region
• - 23 Countries, 1981

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• Nairobi Convention for the Protection,
  Management and Development of the Marine and
  Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region
  
• 4 Mainland Countries and 4 Island States, 1985

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• The Regional Seas Conventions bring the
  countries together for the purpose of marine
  environmental protection and management.
• The work programmes of these two Conventions
  include significant measures to combat coastal
  environmental degradation and overexploitation of
  fishery resources, especially in coastal waters.

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Large Marine Ecosystems (GEF/UNEP/UNDP/UNIDO/US-NO
AA)

• Canary Current LME project (under preparation)
• Guinea Current LME project (PDF-B phase after
  pilot GOG-LME project)
• Benguela Current LME project (under
  implementation)
• Western Indian Ocean LBA Project (Recently
  approved for implementation)

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Fisheries-related activities in the LME projects
include

• Trawl survey and related data analyses and
  database development
• Strategic policy and management planning for
  coastal fisheries

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• Regional strategies for resources rehabilitation
  through comparative analyses
• Training, workshops and networking activities in
  stock assessment, community and fisheries policy
  analyses and planning

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CONCLUSION

• Fisheries in SSA are both artisanal and
  industrial
• Local (costal countries) and distant water fleets
  are involved in the fisheries

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• Risk factors include
• over-exploitation of resources,
• pollution,
• use of unapproved fishing methods
• Small and large-scale fisheries conflicts
• Post-harvest losses

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• Physical alteration and modification of coastal
  habitats (including destruction of mangroves and
  coral reefs)
• Limited human, and institutional capacity for
  resources management

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• The fishery resources are both localised and
  widely-distributed.
• Significant stake of International fishing fleets
  implies problems are transboundary in nature,
  hence international collaboration required for
  management and mitigation.

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• Initiatives within the Regional Seas Conventions,
  Large marine Ecosystems and African Process are a
  step in the right direction
• but more commitment for management required
  from both national governments and donor community

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION