A National Framework for Fisheries Co-management Policy Brief 4

This approach recognizes the differences inherent in the management of highly migratory pelagics while encouraging local management units to develop and implement plans that improve conditions at landing sites and manage artisanal fisheries for non-migratory species in selected near-shore areas. Marine fisheries have long been a pillar of Ghana's coastal economy and a primary source of livelihoods in every shorefront community. The wealth of protein provided by fish has been critical to the Ghanaian diet for centuries. Ghana's most important fishery is for the small, highly migratory pelagics, which include sardines, mackerels, and herrings. The second and lesser category of fish harvested are the demersals, species that live on, in, or near the bottom. National fisheries statistics reflect the challenges faced by Ghana's fisheries. Despite massive increases in efforts to catch fish, catches are getting progressively smaller. Harvests of small pelagics by the canoe fleet have decreased by 60% in the last decade. The management of fisheries is concerned primarily with the management of fishermen, which is particularly challenging because hundreds of thousands of fishers from the canoe, semi-industrial, industrial, and trawler fleets are competing for the same fish. Traditionally, Chief Fishermen and Chief Fishmongers in each shorefront community have been responsible for defining and enforcing the rules by which fish in their immediate area are caught and sold. However, these traditional authorities have faced challenges in implementing effective management systems. In the late 1980s, the movement to decentralize government gave the District Assemblies explicit responsibility for the licensing of canoes and the preparation of by-laws that support the implementation of national fisheries regulations. The experience of Ghana's fisheries since the colonial era underscores the importance of adaptive co-management. International experience confirms that solutions built around principles of adaptive co-management are most likely to be effective and sustainable. Co-management requires that key stakeholders, most notably the resource users themselves, have significant roles and responsibilities in the management process. In such systems, local management units well connected with fishing, marketing, and processing operations, and well aware of social conditions in fishing communities, are nested within higher-level governance institutions at the district, region, and national scales. Adaptive co-management systems are designed to encourage learning-by-doing and feedback loops that promote experimentation. In adaptive systems, the rules governing a fishery can be modified to quickly respond to new information or changing operating environments. Regular re-assessments based on specified indicators serve to assess performance and progress towards objectives. The initial failure in fisheries co-management in Ghana must not be repeated but rather be seen as the source of valuable lessons. The lessons learned from Ghana's experience with fisheries co-management highlight the importance of defining the goals of a fisheries management system. Fisheries can be managed to maximize yield, to maximize employment, to maximize economic return, and to protect the environment or a number of other outcomes or combinations of outcomes. How these goals are defined will produce distinctly different outcomes. Ghana's Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has selected such goals and states that fisheries will contribute to socio-economic development through food and nutritional security and poverty reduction in a sustainable and economically efficient manner. The distribution of responsibility and authority in fisheries management is critical to the success of co-management systems. In Ghana, the national fisheries authority has traditionally held the power to formulate fisheries policy and regulations, monitor, and enforce management systems. However, this top-down approach has been ineffective in managing Ghana's fisheries. Co-management requires that responsibility and authority be distributed among local management units, fishing communities, and higher-level governance institutions. The goals of fisheries management in Ghana must be redefined to prioritize the needs of fishing communities and the sustainability of fisheries resources. This requires a shift from a top-down approach to a more participatory and adaptive co-management system. The distribution of responsibility and authority must be redefined to empower local management units and fishing communities to take ownership of fisheries management. This will require sustained financing and the active support and engagement of the national fisheries authority.