ghana climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment

gill nets constructed from traditional fibres; poli and watsa nets are types of purse seine. Gear types have evolvedconsiderably over the last century. Large canoes also employ large drift nets (e.g., the “nifa-nifa” net). Largebeach-seine canoes make up the second sub-category; these usually have high planking at the bow to prevent largewaves coming on board when operating in the surf (Finegold et al., 2010).Without registration requirements and no limits on access to the fishery, the number of active canoes in Ghanahas continually increased from 7,000 in 1980 to an estimated current fleet size of 13,500 (projected from lastcanoe survey in 2004, Finegold et al., 2010). From 1970 to 1980, about 85 percent of all canoes were reported tobe motorized; now the figure has fallen to a fairly consistent 55 percent. Substantial growth occurred in motorizedcanoes, canoes, and canoe fishers in all coastal administrative regions from 1995-2004, but growth was notablystrong in the Western Region which now represents about 36 percent of the canoe fleet of Ghana (Finegold et al.,2011).Semi-industrial or inshore fleet: The semi-industrial or inshore fleet consists of mostly locally-built, plankedwooden-hulled vessels (8-30 m long) with inboard diesel engines (90-400 hp) (Bannerman and Cowx, 2002; DoF,2003; Nunoo et al., 2009). These vessels use trawling gear to catch demersal fish and purse seines to capture smallpelagic fish during the major and minor upwelling periods. Smaller vessels in this class are generallyunderpowered for trawling and with the adoption of light fishing in the minor or low seasons, they have tended tospecialize in purse seining. Most purse seine nets are 400-800 m long and 40-70 m deep with a mesh size of 25-40mm; nets >2 km long are used by the large vessels. First deployed in Ghana in 1948, the numbers of these vesselsquickly peaked in the early 1970s. Following steep decline from the early 1990s to early 2000s, vessel numbersrose sharply again through early 2000s, an impending warning sign of significantly increasing effort and perhapsstock overexploitation. The rapid and continued increase in this fleet likely relates to the adoption of light fishing,and the associated year-round access to the small pelagic resource (Finegold et al., 2010).Industrial fleet: The industrial fleet consists of large, steel hulled foreign-built vessels that are further distinguishedfrom the inshore fleet by their ability to freeze fish at sea, and hence, their ability to stay at sea for long periods oftime (Finegold et al., 2010). Apart from the tuna fleet (see subsequent), the industrial fleet largely engages indemersal trawling. A sub-fleet targeting shrimp operated in the 1990s (22 operational vessels maximum); however,since 2002 only two operational shrimpers were reported. Another sub-fleet consists of ships practicing pairtrawling, in which two industrial vessels pull a trawl net between them. Pair trawling was introduced in 2000, andthe fleet grew to 20 vessels before the practice was banned in 2008. Though pair trawlers were supposed to be refittedas single trawlers following the ban, some may still be operating in pairs, leaving port separately and meetingup at sea. Fishermen in the Western Region continue to report observing pair trawlers operating off the coast(Finegold et al., 2011).The industrial fleet has steadily expanded with a sharp increase over the last three decades when governmentpolicy targeted this fleet to promote fishery development and improved incomes from the sector. A problematicgap in the Ghanaian sampling system is that industrial vessels provide information on their own catches (selfreport), and no method is in place to verify the information provided. Extremely low catch and effort arereported by this fleet, so low it is inconceivable they could make a profit, providing strong indications that vesselssubstantially under-report catches (Finegold et al., 2010). Given the catch potential of these large vessels and theirability to stay at sea for long periods and transship catch to places other than Ghana, better data on this fleetsegment is urgently required. The industrial fleet also supports another emergent but illegal “fishery”; one whereso called “trash fish” (low value, small or damaged fish) are transferred at sea from trawlers to canoes speciallymodified to transport large volumes of fish (Nunoo et al., 2009). These fish then enter the normal beach-basedmarket chain as accessed by canoe fishers. If this trade continues, Ghana’s long-standing traditional fishingvocation, which is ranked among the best in West Africa (Atta-Mills et al., 2004) may be lost. Also, the increase indiscards on the market tends to encourage offshore vessels to fish much closer to shore and also to use small,illegal mesh sizes. The continuation of trash fish trade puts more pressure on Ghana’s depleting fish stocks, yetanother situation that may push the already overfished stocks towards collapse. In addition, a government subsidyon fuel for artisanal fisheries, which is supposed to be used for legal fishing activities, is channeled into transshipmentof catch at sea (Nunoo et al., 2009).GHANA CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT 107