**2. The state of fisheries in Ghana**

Ghana has three main fishing units, namely artisanal, semi industrial and industrial. The artisanal fishing sector which comprises of about 9,951 small canoes lands about 70% of the total annual fish landings (254,000 metric tons) in Ghana. Its main catch composition includes mackerels, sardines and anchovies. The semi industrial which consists of trawlers and purse seiners mostly lands about 6,000 metric tons of fish with sardines and mackerels as its targeted fishes. On the other hand, industrial fishing sector made up of tuna purse seiners, tuna bait and trawl fleet harvest approximately 83,500 metric tons of fishes. Key fish species harvested by these industrial vessels include groupers, cuttlefish, snappers, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and skipjack tuna [3]. Marine capture fisheries supply about 328,541 metric tons of fish annually (**Table 1**), despite the annual consumption of about 950,000 metric tons by Ghanaians.


**Table 1.** Marine fish production from 2009 to 2016 (mt).

imports. Marine accounts for the highest percentage of the production, 70%; 19% for inland

Ghana's coast is in the southern part of Gulf of Guinea, spanning an area of 238,500 km2

sea of 12 (nm) and a contiguous zone of 24 nm. The coastline is 550 km which stretches from

The Ghanaian fishery sector is important because it generates over US\$1 billion in revenue each year and accounts for at least 4.5% of national gross domestic product (GDP) [6]. The sector also provides employment for an estimated 210,000 people work directly in Ghana's fisheries sector, and the sector employs, directly or indirectly, 2.2 million people or 20% of the population [6]. It also generates income, cheap protein source and supports livelihood.

However, with the exception of the tuna fleet, catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of all fleets has been decreasing. The national statistics indicate a decline from 314,867.57 mt (2013) to 289,147.23 mt in (2014) [2] due to the unsustainable fishing practices such as fishing with small mesh sized nets, light, chemicals, pollution of the sea, etc. This necessitates the need to revive the fish stock and restore the derived benefits through better fisheries management practice

The fisheries in Ghana is near collapse. This has resulted in food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and slow economic growth. Stock enhancement is a common practice in the developed world. However, in Ghana, the Government is not motivated to undertake stock enhancement programmes. The regulations, institution, infrastructure and technology are weak for stock enhancement and restocking programmes. The species to be selected for enhancement, management goals and objectives, assessing stocking effects, dealing with consumers' accept-

Restocking Ghanaian fisheries will boost fish production, revenue from fisheries, food security, sustain livelihoods of millions of dependents and bring economic benefits to the country.

Ghana has three main fishing units, namely artisanal, semi industrial and industrial. The artisanal fishing sector which comprises of about 9,951 small canoes lands about 70% of the total annual fish landings (254,000 metric tons) in Ghana. Its main catch composition includes mackerels, sardines and anchovies. The semi industrial which consists of trawlers and purse seiners mostly lands about 6,000 metric tons of fish with sardines and mackerels as its targeted fishes. On the other hand, industrial fishing sector made up of tuna purse seiners, tuna bait and trawl fleet harvest approximately 83,500 metric tons of fishes. Key fish species harvested by these industrial vessels include groupers, cuttlefish, snappers, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and skipjack tuna [3]. Marine capture fisheries supply about 328,541 metric tons of fish annually (**Table 1**), despite the annual consumption of about 950,000 metric tons by

Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles (nm), covering an area of 228,509 km2

such as stock enhancement, restocking and sea ranching, among others.

ability as well as economic and social considerations need to be considered.

. The country has an Exclusive

, a territorial

and 11% for aquaculture of total fish production in 2016 [3].

with a total narrow continental shelf area of about 24,300 km2

Half Assini in the West to Aflao in the East [4, 5].

88 Public Management and Administration

**2. The state of fisheries in Ghana**

Ghanaians.

To bridge the supply and demand gap, Ghana currently imports over 50% of its fish, valued at \$135 million worth largely due to reduction in the fish stock, particularly marine fishes [2]. Other notable issues blighting the contribution of marine capture fisheries in Ghana include increased fishing capacity, inadequate regulations and weak enforcement of existing regulations, low level of protection of marine biodiversity and inadequate information on fisheries biology and stocks [2] as well as climate change.
