Cape Coast, March 27, – Professor Joseph Aggrey-Fynn, a Professor of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has called for the scrapping of all minor fish landing beaches to improve monitoring, control and surveillance within Ghana’s fisheries sector.
He explained that the existence of more than 300 landing sites along Ghana’s approximately 550-kilometre coastline made effective regulation difficult and created opportunities for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities to thrive.
Prof Aggrey-Fynn said in well-regulated fishing environments, authorities inspected fishing gear and vessels before departure to ensure fishermen did not carry illegal equipment or substances. However, he noted that such controls were difficult to enforce when numerous landing points existed along the coast.
“In some places, before you leave to fish, they inspect your fishing gear and your boat and so there is no way you can go with illegal tools and substances and not be caught. But when you go to Elmina, you see fishermen carrying generators and it is clear that they are going to do light fishing,” he said.
Prof Aggrey-Fynn, who is also the Founding Director of the Institute for Oil and Gas at UCC, made the call while delivering his inaugural lecture on the theme: “Ghana’s declining fisheries resources: Reality or myth.”
He highlighted the importance of the fisheries sector to the national economy and food security, noting that it contributed about 1.2 per cent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product and supplied about 60 per cent of the country’s annual protein intake.
He observed, however, that fish stocks, particularly Sardinella, were declining rapidly due to overfishing, weak management systems and climatic factors.
Prof Aggrey-Fynn urged government to invest in the development of the Blue Economy to reduce overdependence on fishing as the primary livelihood in coastal communities.
He said the Blue Economy offered significant opportunities in areas such as tourism and marine transportation, which could be developed to create alternative sources of income.
He cited Cape Verde as an example where tourists paid to swim with turtles and said Ghana could develop similar initiatives, including whale and dolphin watching along the coast from Winneba to the Western Region.
He also noted that the meeting point of the Equator and the Prime Meridian in Ghana’s maritime space could be developed into a major tourism attraction.
As part of efforts to strengthen fisheries research and coastal development, Prof Aggrey-Fynn said the University of Cape Coast was establishing the Africa Ocean Institute to support research and innovation in fisheries and coastal management across the continent.
He said the Institute was expected to be launched in Accra before July this year and called on government and development partners to support the initiative.
GHBUSS
March 27, 2026
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