Framework contract MARE/2011/01 Evaluation and impact...

Fisheries

Framework contract MARE/2011/01 Evaluation and impact assessment activities

for DG MARE

Lot 3 – Retrospective and prospective evaluations on the international dimension of the common fisheries policy

Specific contract n°18

Ex ante evaluation of a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Protocol between the

European Union and the Republic of Ghana

Final Report

September 2016

DG MARE 2011/01/Lot 3 – SC18 AFR223R01A

This report has been prepared with the financial support of the European Commission. The views expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

European Commission or of its services. The content of this report may not be reproduced, or even part thereof, without explicit reference to the

source. This report must be cited as follows:

NFDS, COFREPECHE, MRAG and POSEIDON 2016. Ex ante evaluation of a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Protocol between the European Union and the Republic of Ghana

(Framework contract MARE/2011/01 – Lot 3, specific contract 18). Brussels, 112 p.

COFREPECHE: 32 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris, France. [email protected]

Final Report – version B Report ref.:

Number of pages: 112 (all included) Date issued: 13 September 2016

Action First name Surname Organisation

Position

Author(s) Sandy Davies NFDS Team leader

Peter Manning NFDS Fisheries economist

Peer review Chris Mees MRAG Director

Proofreading Sandy Davies NFDS Team leader

Editing Matthew Bunce MRAG (Editor)

Approval and validation Etienne Jarry COFREPECHE, consortium focal

point

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Unit B.3 - Bilateral agreements and fisheries control in international waters

Contact: Laurent Markovic

E-mail: [email protected]

European Commission B-1049 Brussels


Page ii Consortium: COFREPECHE (leader) – NFDS – MRAG – POSEIDON Ex ante evaluation of a SFPA and Protocol between the EU and Ghana – Final Report

LEGAL NOTICE

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Page ii Consortium: COFREPECHE (leader) – NFDS – MRAG – POSEIDON Ex ante evaluation of a SFPA and Protocol between the EU and Ghana – Final Report

Executive summary

Introduction

1. This report provides an ex ante evaluation of a possible Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) and Protocol1 between the European Union (EU) and Republic of Ghana. The EU distant-water fishing fleets have been targeting tropical tunas in the Gulf of Guinea since the 1950s, today catching about 10 % of their global tuna catch in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the EU has never concluded a fisheries agreement with Ghana, the EU fleet have been fishing in Ghana’s waters under private licences since 2007. The tropical tunas of the Atlantic are highly migratory and widely distributed, targeted by fishing vessels both within coastal state exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and on the high seas in order to follow the migration of the tuna. Ghana has recently expressed an interest in concluding an agreement with the EU, following the lifting of a pre-identification as a non-cooperating country on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing issues in 2015.

2. This evaluation is intended to inform a decision as to whether to provide a mandate to the European Commission to negotiate an SFPA with the Ghana on behalf of the EU. This evaluation was completed between February and July 2016, and was based on: a review of relevant literature; consultations with regional organisations in the East Atlantic Ocean (EAO); a visit by the contractors to the Ghana (15 to 21 April 2015); and relevant consultations in the EU with European Commission services, the European External Action Service (EEAS), Member State administrations and the private sector.

Background

3. Ghana is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by Burkina Faso, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. The land mass is 238 533 km2, and the coastline extends for about 550 km. The coast consists mostly of a low sandy shore, behind which stretches the coastal plain, except in the west, where the forest comes down to the sea. In 2016, Ghana had an estimated population of 28 million with a population growth rate of 2.2 % and an average life expectancy of 62 years. The fisheries sector is very important for Ghana’s coastal communities, with income derived from fishing and related activities, constituting about 55 to 67 % of total household income and around 10 % of the population are engaged in the sector.

4. In 1960, Ghana became independent and in 1992 re-established a multi-party democratic system. The next general election is due to take place on 7 November 2016. Ghana is a lower-middle income country with a total gross national income (GNI) of USD 42 652 664 235 and a per capita GNI of USD 1 590 in 2014. According to the 2015 Economic Outlook Report, Ghana’s economic growth rate slowed in recent years from a rate of 7.3 % in 2013 to an estimated 3.9 % in 2015. The economic growth rate is expected to recover partly as a result of an increase in oil and gas production, private sector investment, improved public infrastructure and the country’s political stability. In 2016 the World Bank index on the ease of doing business ranked Ghana the highest country in West Africa at 114th out of 189 countries. Ghana’s has a steadily improving and medium ranked Human Development Index ranking, falling 140th out of 188 countries in 2015.

5. The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II 2014-2017, provides the overarching policy framework for coordinated social and economic growth. The GSGDA envisages interventions in a number of sectors, including in fisheries and aquaculture. The fisheries sector is one of the most important sources of animal protein with over 61 % of animal protein consumed coming from fish, per capita fish consumption was 27.2 kg per year in 2012. The fisheries sector contributed directly 1.2 % to GDP in 2014.

1 Throughout this report when referring to the ‘SFPA’ we refer to the SFPA, Protocol, and Annex. When referring specifically to the ‘Protocol’ we refer to both the Protocol and the Annex.


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6. Ghana imported goods valued at EUR 13.13 billion and exported EUR 7.29 billion in 2014. Its main export partners are the EU-28 (34.7% of total exports), China (10.7%), Taiwan (8.7% and India (7.3%) while its main import partners include China (24.5% of total imports), the EU 28 (22.7%) and Nigeria (13.1%). The EU is Ghana’s most important trading partner with total trade valued at EUR 5.998 billion (2014). EUR 24 million of fish products were exported to the EU in 2014 with EUR 131 million of imports from Europe in the same year.

7. Ghana is a member of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and various regional fisheries bodies (RFBs) and regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) including: the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC); the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF); the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic (ATLAFCO); and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

8. Ghana firstly cooperated with the EU through the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements and subsequently through the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)-EU Partnership Agreement. The National Indicative Programme (NIP) is supported by the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for a total amount of EUR 323 million for 2014 to 2020, covering: governance: public sector management and accountability; productive investment in agriculture in the savannah ecological zone; and employment and social protection. The Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) for West Africa (2014-2020) under the 11th EDF is for EUR 1.15 billion available to the region focusing on regional integration.

9. ECOWAS Heads of State endorsed the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU in July 2014 and opened it for signature. At least two thirds (11) of ECOWAS countries need to sign the EPA before 1st October 2016 in order for it to enter into force. Article 49 of the Agreement is devoted to fisheries and lays the foundation for sustainable development of the fisheries in the region: it commits both parties to work together to this end. Until 1st October 2016, Ghana continues to benefit from duty-free quota-free access to the EU market, should the EPA not enter into force, in respect to fishery products Ghana will pay import tariffs to the EU which, in the case of canned tuna, will be 20.5%. The only alternative would be the signature of the interim bilateral EPA.

Regional overview

10. The EU has active SFPAs and Protocols with nine countries in the region, six of them for tuna fisheries only and three for mixed agreements that include tuna. The tuna SFPAs enable EU vessels to follow the stocks from one jurisdiction to another or from high seas to waters under national jurisdiction, a potential SFPA with Ghana would play an important part in securing this regional network. The EAO annual catch volume for all tuna species over a five-year average (2006-2010) was 350 000 t. EU vessels account for a third of the total catch in the Atlantic, using purse seine fishing, longlining and to a lesser extent pole-and-line fishing. Fishing using fish aggregation devices (FADs) has been developed intensively in recent years.

11. The management framework for tuna fisheries in West Africa includes several jurisdictional levels and geographical scales: 1) international, under international conventions; 2) Atlantic, with the ICCAT; 3) regional, with RFBs whose interventions support resources assessments and management, albeit without a management mandate; 4) national, through the internal regulations of the countries involved. Regionally the most important for tuna is ICCAT that defines the regulatory framework for tuna management by issuing resolutions, recommendations and decisions addressing; total allowable catch (TAC) for albacore and bigeye tuna; effort and capacity restrictions for the different fishing techniques; and technical measures (minimum sizes, spatial and temporal closures for FAD fishing, etc.). The number of vessels in the EU longliners fleet cannot rise above the current level, and as the quota allocated for swordfish, the main target species along with shark is regularly reached, no further development of that fishery is envisaged. The EU purse seine fleet has not reached its capacity ceiling, but development prospects will need to target skipjack as yellowfin is overfished and the maximum catch levels for bigeye and albacore have already been reached.

12. Tuna caught by EU vessels in the EAO pass through various sectors for processing, these are: processed in West Africa but consumed in Europe (80 000 t per year); processed and consumed in Europe (40 000 t per


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Consortium: COFREPECHE (leader) – NFDS – MRAG – POSEIDON Ex ante evaluation of a SFPA and Protocol between the EU and Ghana – Final Report

year); processed and preserved in Asia (12 000 t per year). By-catch is sold during vessel port stop-overs, estimated at around 15 000 t per year, while 150 t of shark is shipped to Spain per year, where fins are removed for onward shipping to Hong Kong and sale into the Asian market. ICCAT provides the analysis and advice on the status of tropical tuna stocks: the Atlantic bigeye tuna stock was assessed as being overfished, and overfishing was occurring in 2014; the eastern Atlantic stock of skipjack tuna was assessed as ‘not probably’ overfished and ‘not probably’ subject to overfishing in 2014; the yellowfin tuna was assessed in 2010 as being overfished but not subject to overfishing, although it was noted that there was considerable uncertainty.

Fisheries governance in Ghana

13. In 2013, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD) was re-established to provide policy and administrative direction with the aim of turning around the poor fortunes of the sector. The Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (2008) foresees that the sector will contribute to wider macro-economic objectives through food and nutritional security and poverty reduction in a sustainable and economically efficient manner. The 2014-2017 Sector Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) is an ambitious plan that aims to deliver this in the medium term through government investment and development partners’ support in the fisheries sector.

14. The main legislation governing fishing activities is the 2002 Fisheries Act that was amended in 2014 and the 2010 Fisheries Regulations that were amended in 2015. The Act and Regulations provide for, inter alia: the establishment of a Fisheries Commission (FC), development of fisheries management plans with the engagement of stakeholders; a number of conservation and management measures; an inshore exclusive zone reserved for small semi-industrial vessels, canoes and recreational fishing vessels; prohibition on catching protected species; and minimum landing sizes for commercially important fish. Under the legislation, tuna fishing is the only fishery that allows foreign participation through joint venture. However, the Minister responsible for fisheries may, grant access outside of this requirement. It is under this ‘exemption’ that the EU purse seine vessels currently fish within the Ghana EEZ and have been permitted to do so since 2007. A possible SFPA between the EU and Ghana is anticipated to fall under the same exemption.

15. Politically, the Ministry is headed by a Minister and assisted by a Deputy Minister. There is a Chief Director, who is the administrative head, supported by four Directors who are responsible for the four line directorates: Finance and Administration; Human Resource Development; Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; and Research, Statistics, Public Relation and Information. The FC is responsible for regulation and management of fisheries resources and for policy coordination. MOFAD’s budgetary allocation was EUR 32 647 756 in 2014: 6 % was allocated for compensation of employees, 10 % for goods and services and 84 % for assets respectively, however only 26 % of this was spent.

16. The MOFAD provides scientific advice for fisheries management based on research and development. The research agenda is focused on generating and gathering scientific data with limited capacity for analysis. A recent survey to estimate the size of the fish stocks took place with the FAO’s R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen with nine Ghanaian scientists on board, this helped to boost local capacity and provide an estimate of fish biomass.

17. The Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU), includes personnel from the Navy, Air Force and the FC and operates from the Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) in Tema. Potential sanctions for violation are the strictest in the region, although to date their application has not been fully tested. Vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) are mandatory for local industrial and semi-industrial vessels and foreign vessels. Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders been installed on all active Ghana-flagged vessels (33 tuna vessels, 86 trawler vessels (mixed species), 2 carrier vessels, 1 supply vessel). In July 2015, 70 at-sea fisheries observers were trained and now work on the national tuna fleet with 100 % coverage. Ghana Navy vessels conducted 442 hours of sea patrols in 2014 including 65 boarding and inspections and 30 arrests were made. In Tema and Takoradi harbours, in 2015, 657 inspections on trawlers, 154 on tuna vessels and 186 on reefers/carriers importing fish took place. The FC is the Competent Authority empowered to issue


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authorisation for export certificates in compliance with the EC Regulation 1005/2008 to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing.


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Fisheries in the Ghana EEZ

18. Information compiled from the MOFAD database for 2014 showed that the marine fish production was 295 347 t in 2014 formed from: artisanal 61 %, inshore 2 %, industrial 11 % and tuna 26 % catches by volume. In the industrial sector there are Ghanaian trawlers, pole and line vessels, and purse seiners targeting tuna and foreign purse seiners. A total of 140 industrial vessels were licenced to fish in Ghana in 2015, including 44 ‘tuna vessels’, 18 of which were foreign and 13 of those EU registered (four Spanish and nine French) the rest from Belize, Cape Verde and Curacao. Licence fees applied to foreign vessels include application and processing fees of USD 5 000 and USD 10 000 respectively and a licence fee based on the GRT of the vessel. Based on the details of vessels provided by the French vessel owners, this suggests that the EU purse seiners are paying approximately between USD 45 000 and USD 110 000 per year for their access to fish in the Ghanaian EEZ depending on the GRT of the vessel. In 2015 Ghana collected EUR 1 196 061 from licence fees.

19. The MOFAD reported total catch of tuna from all industrial vessels (purse seiners and pole and line vessels) for 2014 at 76 844 t (67 % skipjack, 25 % yellowfin, 6 % bigeye and 3 % others). Using estimates drawn from the ICCAT database catches by EU purse seiners in the Ghanaian EEZ have reached an average level estimated at 2 900 t in the 2005-2014 period (a minimum of 1 670 t and a maximum of 4 440 t). This average catch of 2 900 t corresponds to 3.1 % of the average total catches by the EU purse seiners during the 2005 to 2014 period (and 7.5 % of the tuna caught in west African EEZs). The figures also show that there is considerable uncertainty in the estimated yearly catches. It also shows that some tuna was reported to have been caught by EU purse seiners in the EEZ each year since 1990, except in 2006.

20. Figures provided to the consultants by the EC indicate that the EU purse seiners fishing in Ghanaian EEZ caught 1 570 t in 2012, 1 946 t in 2013, 3 083 t in 2014 and 1 110 t in 2015. The catches were reported to be predominantly yellowfin. The species composition of the EU purse seine catches in the Ghanaian EEZ are dominated by yellowfin (69 % of total catch), which would be expected as the majority of the catches are on free schools. The French vessel owners reported that (2010 to 2013) six French vessel caught between 1 630 and 2 630 t per year and, in 2014, 8 887 t within the Ghana EEZ. No details on vessel days spent in the EEZ of Ghana by EU vessels were available to the consultants from any sources, although analysis of the catches by month indicate that the EU vessels spend approximately two months per year fishing in the Ghanaian EEZ.

21. Ghana exports high valued fish including frozen and canned tuna loins, including an average of 30 344 t per year (2012-2014) to the EU valued at EUR 128 885 800. There are two tuna canneries in Ghana: Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), the largest is part of the Thai Union Group, the world’s largest tuna producer, and it produces 40 000 to 45 000 t per year, a substantial proportion of which it exports to the EU.

22. Sources of information on catches of tuna in the EEZ of Ghana provide somewhat differing pictures. In general there appears to be agreement that the large fleet of Ghanaian-registered vessels, which forms around 60 % of the tuna vessels authorised to fish in the EEZ, are, in many cases, joint venture vessels with considerable foreign involvement. The 40 % of foreign-registered vessels authorised to fish for tuna in the EEZ are almost 80 % EU purse seine vessels.

23. It is estimated that the EU purse seiners, in respect to the time they spend fishing in the Ghana EEZ on private authorisations, contribute direct employment equating to 50 EU and 50 non-EU crew per year. It is estimated that around 45 people are directly employed in the Ghanaian cannery due to the catches made by the EU purse seine vessels in Ghanaian waters.

Evaluation findings about current problems and needs

24. Fisheries management and conservation of regional highly migratory species in the EAO falls primarily under the mandate of the ICCAT, but it is the responsibility of members of ICCAT to put into force ICCAT


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resolutions and recommendations. Implementation of fisheries management and particularly monitoring in Ghana requires strengthening, the improved framework established in MOFAD and the FC, and support from the ICCAT, other regional organisations, and donor-supported projects and programmes, are all-important for Ghana considering its important position as a flag, port, coastal and market state in respect to fisheries.

25. Although catches of tuna in the EAO have remained stable for the last decade, ICCAT has assessed that only the skipjack stocks are ‘not probably’ overfished and ‘not probably’ subject to overfishing, while the bigeye and yellowfin stocks are overfished. This indicates, above all else that all parties have a vital interest in ensuring the sustainability of the tuna stocks and to build partnerships to enhance management capacities in Ghana and regionally to help to foster good governance, continued developments in science and monitoring, implementation of fisheries policy, developments in MCS and reduced IUU fishing.

26. Ghana needs to harness as many potential economic, social and nutritional benefits as possible from their fishery sector to help overcome their development challenges through fisheries led economic growth. These may include earnings from selling access to vessels, benefits from upstream and downstream business generated from vessels calling at Tema port and from the canning factories. Social benefits, in terms of the employment related the sector and food and nutrition security are also essential. For the EU, sustainability is needed to comply with, and support, the objective of the reformed CFP and to ensure long-term sustainable stocks for the EU fleet to exploit and for the EU consumer to consume.

27. Although there are discrepancies in the various sources of information on tuna catch in Ghana’s EEZ, it appears that the large fleet of Ghanaian-registered vessels catch mainly skipjack tuna, while the foreign-registered vessels catch mainly yellowfin. This supply of larger yellowfin tuna to the canneries was reported to be historically the reason for opening the fishery to foreign vessels and was considered valid today. In parallel, there is a real need for Ghana to protect the ability of their local fishing fleet to continue to competitively supply tuna to the canneries, however, as the EU vessels are likely to continue to seek licences to fish in the Ghana EEZ, if no SFPA is concluded, the added benefits of closer relationships between the flag state, the EU, and Ghana is likely to provide improved monitoring and leading to improved management.

28. The EAO is one of the main regions for the EU's fishing fleet and freely following the stocks between jurisdictions and into the high seas is essential to the EU fleet. A potential SFPA with Ghana would play an important part in securing longer-term access for EU purse seiners to the EEZ of Ghana. The potential for developing regional approaches within the network of SFPAs in West Africa is considered worthy of consideration, including possible coherent cost of access, approaches to embarking coastal states crew and observers, and approaches to VMS, AIS and electronic reporting.

Conclusions about the two options considered by the ex ante evaluation

29. This report has completed an ex ante evaluation of two possible policy interventions, or options, in line with the EU financial regulation. Option 1 is no SFPA and to leave individual vessel owners or their representative organisations to negotiate access to Ghana’s EEZ. Option 2 is an SFPA with fishing opportunities for around 13 purse seine vessels, with financial contributions for access and sectoral support, and with a Joint Committee to oversee implementation. While there are some risks related to option 2, such as low value for money provided by EU funds if utilisation of fishing opportunities is low, the overall objectives of sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources, transparency, monitoring and control of the tuna fishery, financial stability, legal certainty for EU operators, enhanced cooperation between the EU and Ghana (including at the regional and ICCAT level) and human rights and democratic principles would be more likely to be achieved than under option 1. This is primarily because of the added value associated with EU involvement under option 2. Option 2 would ensure that conditions of access are coherent with CFP reform, that sectoral support funding is provided to Ghana, and that monitoring of an SFPA would take place by a Joint Committee. Ensuring that access provided to EU vessels is based on SFPAs rather than private agreements is also consistent with the long-term thinking of the EU that SFPAs are preferable to private access agreements signed by Member State fleets. Finally, given that exploitation of catches in a sustainable manner is the


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fundamental underpinning for long-term economic and social benefits for both parties, option 2 should be the preferred option.


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Résumé

Introduction

1. Ce rapport fournit une évaluation ex ante d'un éventuel accord de partenariat durables dans la pêche (SFPA) et Protocole2 entre l'Union européenne (UE) et la République du Ghana. Les flottes de pêche lointaine de l'UE ont pris pour cible les thons tropicaux dans le golfe de Guinée depuis les années 1950, la capture aujourd'hui environ 10% de leurs prises de thon mondiale dans l'océan Atlantique. Bien que l'UE n'a jamais conclu un accord de pêche avec le Ghana, la flotte de l'UE a pêché dans les eaux du Ghana dans le cadre des licences privées depuis 2007. Les thons tropicaux de l'Atlantique sont de grands migrateurs et largement distribué, ciblé par les navires de pêche à la fois dans les Zones Économique Exclusive (ZEE) des États côtiers et en haute mer afin de suivre la migration du thon. Le Ghana a récemment exprimé un intérêt pour la conclusion d'un accord avec l'UE, suite à la levée d'une pré-identification en tant que pays non-coopération sur les questions pêche illicite, non déclarée et non réglementée (INN) en 2015.

2. Cette évaluation vise à informer une décision quant à l'opportunité de fournir un mandat à la Commission européenne de négocier un SFPA avec le Ghana au nom de l'UE. Cette évaluation a été effectuée entre février et juillet 2016, et est basée sur: un examen de la documentation pertinente; consultations avec les organisations régionales dans l'océan Atlantique Est (EAO); une visite par les sous-traitants au Ghana (15 au 21 avril 2015); et les consultations pertinentes dans l'UE avec les services de la Commission européenne, le Service européen pour l'action extérieure (SEAE), les administrations des États membres et le secteur privé.

Contexte

3. Le Ghana est situé sur la côte du golfe de Guinée sur l'océan Atlantique, bordé par le Burkina Faso, le Togo et la Côte d'Ivoire. La masse terrestre est de 238 533 km2, et le littoral s'étend sur environ 550 km. La côte se compose essentiellement d'une plage de sable bas, derrière laquelle s'étend la plaine côtière, sauf dans l'ouest, où la forêt va jusqu'à la mer. En 2016, le Ghana avait une population estimée à 28 millions avec un taux de croissance démographique de 2,2 % et une espérance de vie moyenne de 62 ans. Le secteur de la pêche est très important pour les communautés côtières du Ghana, des revenus tirés de la pêche et les activités connexes constituant environ 55 à 67 % du revenu total des ménages et environ 10 % de la population sont engagés dans le secteur.

4. En 1960, le Ghana est devenu indépendant en 1992 le pays a rétabli un système démocratique multipartite. La prochaine élection générale doit avoir lieu le 7 novembre 2016. Le Ghana est un pays à revenu moyen-inférieur avec un revenu total national brut (RNB) de 42 652 664 235 USD et un RNB par habitant de 1 590 USD en 2014. Selon le rapport 2015 des Perspectives économiques, le taux de croissance économique du Ghana a ralenti au cours des dernières années d'un taux de 7,3 % en 2013 à un montant estimé à 3,9 % en 2015. Le taux de croissance économique devrait se rétablir en partie en raison d'une augmentation dans la production de pétrole et de gaz, les investissements du secteur privé, l'amélioration de l'infrastructure publique et la stabilité politique du pays. En 2016, l'indice de la Banque mondiale sur la facilité de faire des affaires a classé le Ghana le plus haut pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest à savoir 114e sur 189 pays. Le Ghana est toujours mieux placé dans l'indice de développement humain, classé 140e sur 188 pays en 2015.

5. Le Programme d’action du Ghana pour la croissance et le développement partagés (GSGDA) II 2014-2017, fournit le cadre politique global pour la croissance économique et sociale coordonnée. Le GSGDA

2 Tout au long de ce rapport lorsqu'il fait référence à la "APD" se réfèrent à la PDOM, protocole et l'annexe. Lorsque se référant spécifiquement à la 'Protocole' nous référer à la fois au Protocole et à l'annexe.


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prévoit des interventions dans un certain nombre de secteurs, y compris dans les pêches et l'aquaculture. Le secteur de la pêche est l'une des sources les plus importantes de protéines animales avec plus de 61 % des protéines animales consommées provenant de poisons; la consommation de poisson par habitant était de 27,2 kg par an en 2012. Le secteur de la pêche a contribué directement 1,2 % du PIB en 2014.

6. Ghana a importé des marchandises d'une valeur de 13,13 milliards d'euros et a exporté 7,29 milliards d'euros en 2014. Ses principaux partenaires à l'exportation sont l'UE-28 (34,7 % du total des exportations), la Chine (10,7 %), Taïwan (8,7 % et l'Inde (7,3 %), tandis que ses principaux partenaires d'importation sont la Chine (24,5 % du total des importations), l'UE 28 (22,7 %) et le Nigéria (13,1 %). L'UE est le plus important partenaire commercial du Ghana avec le commerce total évalué à 5.998 milliards d'euros (2014). Un total de 24 millions d’euros de produits de la pêche a été exporté vers l'UE en 2014, avec 131 millions d'euros d'importations en provenance de l'Europe dans la même année.

7. Le Ghana est membre de l'Union africaine, la Communauté économique des Etats d'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO), et divers organismes régionaux des pêches (ORP) et des organisations de gestion des pêches (ORGP), y compris: le Comité des pêches pour le Golfe du Centre-Ouest de la Guinée (CPCO) ; le Comité des pêches pour l'Atlantique Centre-Est (COPACE) ; la Conférence ministérielle sur la coopération halieutique entre les Etats africains riverains de l'Atlantique (COMHAFAT) ; et la Commission internationale pour la conservation des thonidés de l'Atlantique (CICTA).

8. Ghana tout d'abord a coopéré avec l'UE à travers les accords de Lomé et de Cotonou, puis à travers l’accord de partenariat de Cotonou de I’UE avec les pays ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique). Le programme indicatif national (PIN) est pris en charge par le 11e Fonds européen de développement (FED) pour un montant total de 323 millions d'euros pour 2014-2020, couvrant: la gouvernance-la gestion du secteur public et la responsabilité; l'investissement productif dans l'agriculture dans la zone écologique de savane; et de l'emploi et la protection sociale. Le Programme indicatif régional (PIR) pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest (2014-2020) dans le cadre du 11e FED est de 1,15 milliard d'euros à la disposition de la région en mettant l'accent sur l'intégration régionale.

9. Chefs d'Etat de la CEDEAO ont approuvé l'accord de partenariat économique (APE) avec l'UE en juillet 2014 et ouvert à la signature. Au moins les deux tiers (11) des pays de la CEDEAO doivent signer l'APE avant le 1er octobre 2016, afin qu'il puisse entrer en vigueur. Article 49 de l'accord est consacrée à la pêche et jette les bases pour le développement durable des pêches dans la région: il engage les deux parties à travailler ensemble à cette fin. Jusqu'au 1er octobre 2016, le Ghana continue de bénéficier d’un accès en franchise de droits et sans contingent au marché de l'UE, si l'EPA n'entrera en vigueur; en ce qui concerne les produits de la pêche Ghana va payer les droits de douane à l'importation dans l'UE qui, dans le cas des conserves thon, sera de 20,5 %. La seule alternative serait la signature de l'APE intérimaire bilatéral.

Aperçu régional

10. L'UE a des APPD actifs et protocoles avec neuf pays de la région, six d'entre eux pour la pêche au thon seulement et trois pour les accords mixtes qui incluent le thon. Les APPD thoniers permettent aux navires de l'UE de suivre les stocks d'une juridiction à une autre ou de haute mer dans les eaux sous juridiction nationale; un SFPA potentiel avec le Ghana pourrait jouer un rôle important dans l'obtention de ce réseau régional. Le volume annuel EAO de capture pour toutes les espèces de thon sur une moyenne sur cinq ans (2006-2010) était de 350 000 t. Les navires de l'UE représentent un tiers du total des captures dans l'Atlantique, en utilisant la pêche à la senne, à la palangre et, dans une moindre mesure, la pêche à la ligne. La pêche à l'aide de dispositifs de concentration de poissons (DCP) a été développée de manière intensive au cours des dernières années.

11. Le cadre de gestion de la pêche au thon en Afrique de l'Ouest comprend plusieurs niveaux de compétence et des échelles géographiques: 1) international, en vertu des conventions internationales; 2) de l'Atlantique, avec la CICTA; 3) régionale, avec les ORP - dont les interventions de soutenir les évaluations et la gestion, bien que sans un mandat de gestion; 4) national, à travers les règlements


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intérieurs des pays concernés. Sur le plan régional le plus important pour le thon est l'ICCAT, qui définit le cadre réglementaire pour la gestion du thon en émettant des résolutions, recommandations et décisions portant: total admissible des captures (TAC) pour le germon et le thon obèse; l'effort et de la capacité des restrictions pour les différentes techniques de pêche; et des mesures techniques (tailles minimales, spatiales et temporelles de fermeture pour la pêche DCP, etc.). Le nombre de navires de la flotte de palangriers de l'UE ne peut pas monter au-dessus du niveau actuel, et que le quota attribué pour l'espadon, les principales espèces cible ainsi que le requin est régulièrement atteint, aucun développement ultérieur de cette pêche est envisagée. La flotte de senneurs de l'UE n'a pas atteint son plafond de capacité, mais les perspectives de développement devra cibler listao comme l'albacore est surexploité et les niveaux de captures maximales pour le thon obèse et germon ont déjà été atteint.

12. Les thonidés capturés par les navires de l'UE dans le EAO passent par divers secteurs de transformation, ceux-ci sont: traités en Afrique de l'Ouest, mais consommés en Europe (80 000 t par an); traités et consommés en Europe (40 000 t par an); traités et conservés en Asie (12 000 t par an). Les prises accessoires sont vendus au cours des escales portuaires des navires, estimées à environ 15 000 t par an, tandis que 150 t par an de requin est livré à l'Espagne, où les nageoires sont retirés pour ré-expédition à Hong Kong et à la vente sur le marché asiatique. La CICTA prévoit l'analyse et des conseils sur l'état des stocks de thons tropicaux: le stock de thon obèse de l'Atlantique a été évaluée comme étant surexploités, et la surpêche avait lieu en 2014; le stock de l'Atlantique est de listao a été évaluée comme «probablement pas» surexploités et «probablement pas» soumis à la surpêche en 2014; l'albacore a été évaluée en 2010 comme étant surexploités, mais pas soumis à la surpêche, mais il a été noté qu'il y avait une incertitude considérable.

Gouvernance des pêches au Ghana

13. En 2013, le ministère pour le développement des Pêches et de l'aquaculture (MOFAD) a été rétablie pour fournir la politique et de la direction administrative dans le but de tourner autour des fortunes pauvres du secteur. La politique de la pêche et de l'aquaculture (2008) prévoit que le secteur contribuera aux objectifs macro-économiques plus larges, par le biais de la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle et la réduction de la pauvreté d'une manière durable et économiquement efficace. Le Plan 2014-2017 secteur de développement à moyen terme (MTDP) est un plan ambitieux qui vise à offrir ce à moyen terme grâce à des investissements publics et le soutien des partenaires de développement dans le secteur de la pêche.

14. La principale législation régissant les activités de pêche est la Loi de 2002 sur la pêche, qui a été modifiée en 2014, et le Règlement de pêche de 2010, qui ont été modifiées en 2015. La Loi et le Règlement prévoient, entre autres: la mise en place d'une Commission des pêches (FC), le développement de la gestion de la pêche avec l'engagement des parties prenantes; un certain nombre de mesures de conservation et de gestion; une zone exclusive côtière de pêche réservée aux petits bateaux semi-industriels, des canots et des bateaux de pêche récréative; interdiction de la capture d'espèces protégées; et tailles minimales de débarquement pour les poissons commercialement importants. En vertu de la législation, la pêche au thon est la seule pêche qui permet la participation étrangère par co-entreprises. Toutefois, le ministre chargé de la pêche peut accorder l'accès en dehors de cette exigence. Il est sous cette «exonération» que les senneurs européens pêchent actuellement de poissons dans la ZEE du Ghana et ont été autorisés à le faire depuis 2007. Une éventuelle PDOM entre l'UE et le Ghana s'attend à tomber sous la même exemption.

15. Sur le plan politique, le ministère est dirigé par un ministre et assisté par un sous-ministre. Il y a un directeur principal, qui est l'administrateur en chef, appuyé par quatre administrateurs qui sont responsables pour les quatre directions de ligne : finances et administration; développement des ressources humaines; planification des politiques, suivi et évaluation; et de la recherche, statistiques, relations publiques et de l'information. Le FC est responsable pour la réglementation et de la gestion des ressources halieutiques et de la coordination des politiques. L’allocation budgétaire MOFAD était de 32 647 756 d’euros en 2014: 6 % ont été affectés à la rémunération des salariés, 10 % pour les biens et


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services et 84% pour les actifs, respectivement. Toutefois, seulement 26 % de cette somme a été affectée.

16. Le MOFAD fournit des avis scientifiques pour la gestion de la pêche fondée sur la recherche et le développement. Le programme de recherche se concentre sur la production et la collecte de données scientifiques avec une capacité limitée pour l'analyse. Une enquête récente pour estimer la taille des stocks de poissons a eu lieu avec le navire R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen de la FAO avec neuf scientifiques ghanéens à bord, ce qui a contribué à renforcer les capacités locales et de fournir une estimation de la biomasse des poissons.

17. L’Unité d'application des règlements de pêche (FEU), comprend le personnel de la Marine, la Force aérienne et de la FC et opère à partir de surveillance des pêches Centre (FMC) à Tema. Des sanctions potentielles en cas de violation sont les plus strictes dans la région, même si, à ce jour, leur application n'a pas été entièrement testé. Les systèmes de surveillance des navires (VMS) sont obligatoires pour les navires industriels et semi-industriels locaux et les navires étrangers. Système d'identification automatique (AIS) transpondeurs été installés sur tous les navires actifs battant pavillon du Ghana (33 navires thoniers, 86 navires chalutiers (espèces mixtes), 2 navires de support, 1 navire d'approvisionnement). En Juillet 2015, 70 observateurs de pêche en mer ont été formés et travaillent maintenant sur la flotte nationale de thon avec 100% de couverture. Les navires de la Marine Ghana ont effectués 442 heures de patrouilles maritimes en 2014, y compris 65 embarquements et inspections; 30 arrestations ont été faites. Dans Tema et Takoradi ports, en 2015, 657 inspections ont eu lieu sur les chalutiers, 154 sur les navires thoniers et 186 sur reefers / transporteurs importateurs de poisson. Le FC est l'autorité compétente habilitée à délivrer une autorisation pour les certificats d'exportation en conformité avec le règlement CE 1005/2008 pour prévenir, contrecarrer et éliminer la pêche INN.

La pêche dans la ZEE du Ghana

18. L'information recueillie à partir de la base de données MOFAD pour 2014 a montré que la production de poissons marins était de 295 347 t en 2014 formé à partir de: 61 % artisanal, côtière 2 %, industriel 11 % et le thon 26 % des captures en volume. Dans le secteur industriel, il y a des chalutiers ghanéens, canneurs et senneurs ciblant le thon et les senneurs à senne coulissante étrangère. Un total de 140 navires industriels ont été autorisés à pêcher au Ghana en 2015, dont 44 «thoniers», dont 18 étrangers et 13 de ceux de l'UE inscrits (quatre espagnol et neuf français); le reste du Belize, du Cap-Vert et Curaçao. Les droits de licence applicables aux navires étrangers comprennent l'application et les frais de traitement de 5 000 USD et 10 000 USD, respectivement, et un droit de licence sur la base du GRT du navire. Sur la base des informations sur les navires fournis par les armateurs français, cela suggère que les senneurs de l'UE paient environ entre USD 45 000 et USD 110 000 par an pour leur accès à pêcher dans la ZEE ghanéenne selon la jauge brute (GRT) du navire. En 2015, le Ghana a recueilli 1 196 061 d’euros de frais de licence.

19. Le MOFAD a rapporté un total des captures de thon provenant de tous les navires industriels (senneurs et pôles et les navires de ligne) pour 2014 à 76 844 t (67 % listao, l'albacore 25 %, 6 % et 3 % de patudo autres). En utilisant des estimations tirées de la base de données de l'ICCAT les captures par les senneurs de l'UE dans la ZEE du Ghana ont atteint un niveau moyen estimé à 2 900 t dans la période de 2005-2014 (un minimum de 1 670 t et un maximum de 4 440 t). Cette prise moyenne de 2 900 t correspond à 3,1 % de la moyenne des captures totales par les senneurs de l'UE au cours de la période 2005-2014 (et 7,5 % du thon capturé dans les ZEE ouest-africaine). Les chiffres montrent également qu'il existe une incertitude considérable dans les prises annuelles estimées. Il montre également que certains thon aurait été capturés par les senneurs de l'UE dans la ZEE chaque année depuis 1990, sauf en 2006.

20. Les chiffres fournis aux consultants par la CE indiquent que les senneurs de l'UE pêchant dans ghanéen ZEE ont pris 1 570 t en 2012, 1 946 t en 2013, 3 083 t en 2014 et 1 110 t en 2015. Les prises ont été signalées à être surtout l'albacore. La composition des espèces des prises des senneurs de l'UE dans la ZEE ghanéenne sont dominées par l'albacore (69 % des captures totales), ce qui serait attendu que la


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majorité des captures sont sur les bancs libres. Les armateurs français ont rapporté que (2010-2013) six navire français ont pris entre 1 630 et 2 630 t par an et, en 2014, 8 887 t dans le ZEE du Ghana. Aucun détail sur le nombre de jours passés dans la ZEE du Ghana par les navires de l'UE étaient à la disposition des consultants de toutes les sources, cependant l'analyse des captures mensuelles montre que les navires de l'UE pêchent approximativement deux mois par an dans la ZEE ghanéenne.

21. Ghana exporte des poissons de grande valeur, y compris les reins congelés et le thon en conserve, et y compris une moyenne de 30 344 t par an (2.012 à 2.014) à l'UE évalués à EUR 128 885 800. Il y a deux conserveries de thon au Ghana : Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), le plus important est la partie de la Thai Union Groupe, le plus grand du monde producteurs de thons, et elle produit de 40 000 à 45 000 t par année, une proportion substantielle de qu'elle exporte vers l'UE.

22. Les sources d'information sur les captures de thon dans la ZEE du Ghana fournissent des images quelque peu différentes. En général, il semble y avoir un accord que la grande flotte de navires ghanéens enregistrés, ce qui constitue environ 60 % des navires thoniers autorisés à pêcher dans la ZEE, sont, dans de nombreux cas, les navires de coentreprise avec participation étrangère considérable. Le 40 % des navires immatriculés à l'étranger autorisés à pêcher le thon dans la ZEE sont près de 80 % la bourse UE navires à senne.

23. En tenant compte du temps que les navires passent à pêcher sous régime d'autorisations privées dans la ZEE ghanéenne, on peut estimer qu'ils contribuent à l'emploi direct à hauteur de 50 emplois de marins UE et 50 marins non-UE. En termes d'emploi dans les conserveries ghanéennes, la contribution des prises effectuées par les senneurs de l'UE dans les eaux ghanéennes peut être estimée à environ 45 emplois.

Les résultats des évaluations sur les problèmes et les besoins actuels

24. La gestion des pêches et la conservation des espèces régionales hautement migratoires dans l'EAO tombe principalement dans le cadre du mandat de la CICTA, mais il est de la responsabilité des membres de l'ICCAT de mettre en résolutions et recommandations de l'ICCAT la force. Mise en œuvre de la gestion des pêches, et en particulier la surveillance au Ghana exigent un renforcement, à la suite du cadre amélioré établi en MOFAD et le FC, et le soutien de l'ICCAT, d'autres organisations régionales, et les projets et programmes soutenus par les donateurs, sont tous importants pour le Ghana compte tenu de ses importantes position en tant que drapeau d'état, le port, la côte et le marché en ce qui concerne la pêche.

25. Bien que les captures de thon dans l'EAO sont restés stables pendant la dernière décennie, l'ICCAT a évalué que seuls les stocks de listao sont «probablement pas» surexploités et «probablement pas» soumis à la surpêche, tandis que le thon obèse et les stocks d'albacore sont surexploités. Cela indique avant tout que toutes les parties ont un intérêt vital pour assurer la pérennité des stocks de thonidés et d'établir des partenariats pour renforcer les capacités de gestion au Ghana et au niveau régional pour aider à promouvoir la bonne gouvernance, l'évolution continue de la science et de la surveillance, la mise en œuvre de la pêche la politique, l'évolution des MCS et la pêche INN réduite.

26. Le Ghana doit exploiter autant d'avantages économiques, sociaux et nutritionnels potentiels que possible de leur secteur de la pêche pour aider à surmonter leurs problèmes de développement par le biais de la pêche a conduit la croissance économique. Ceux-ci peuvent inclure le bénéfice de la vente de l'accès aux navires, bénéficie d'activités en amont et en aval générés par les navires faisant escale dans le port de Tema et des usines de conserves. Les prestations sociales, en termes de l'emploi lié au secteur et la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition sont également essentiels. Pour l'UE, la durabilité est nécessaire pour se conformer, et le soutien, l'objectif de la PCP réformée et d'assurer des stocks durables à long terme pour la flotte de l'UE à exploiter et pour le consommateur de l'UE à consommer.

27. Bien qu'il existe des divergences entre les différentes sources d'information sur les captures de thon dans la ZEE du Ghana, il semble que la grande flotte de navires enregistrés au Ghana attrapent le thon listao principalement, tandis que les navires immatriculés à l'étranger capturent principalement l'albacore. Cette offre de plus grande albacore aux conserveries a été signalé à être historiquement la raison de l'ouverture


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de la pêche aux navires étrangers et a été considéré comme valable aujourd'hui. En parallèle, il existe un réel besoin pour le Ghana pour protéger la capacité de leur flotte de pêche locale de continuer à fournir la concurrence des conserveries de thon, cependant, que les navires de l'UE sont susceptibles de continuer à obtenir des licences de pêche dans la Ghana ZEE, si pas SFPA est conclu, les avantages supplémentaires de relations plus étroites entre l'état du pavillon, l'UE, et le Ghana est susceptible de fournir un meilleur suivi et conduisant à une meilleure gestion.

28. L'EAO est l'une des principales régions de la flotte de pêche de l'UE et suit librement les stocks de poissons entre les juridictions et en haute mer est essentielle à la flotte de l'UE. Un SFPA potentiel avec le Ghana pourrait jouer un rôle important dans la sécurisation d'accès à long terme pour les senneurs de l'UE à la ZEE du Ghana. Le potentiel de développement des approches régionales au sein du réseau de SFPAs en Afrique de l'Ouest est considérée comme digne de considération, y compris un éventuel coût d'accès cohérent, les approches de se lancer dans les Etats côtiers membres d'équipage et des observateurs, et les approches de VMS, AIS et la déclaration électronique.

Conclusions sur les deux options envisagées par l'évaluation ex ante

29. Ce rapport a conduit une évaluation ex ante de deux interventions politiques possibles, ou des options, en conformité avec le règlement financier de l'UE. L’Option 1 ne permet pas un APPD et signifierait donc de laisser les propriétaires de navires ou leurs organisations représentatives négocier l'accès à la ZEE du Ghana. L’Option 2 permettrait la signature d’un APPD offrant des possibilités de pêche à environ 13 senneurs, avec des contributions financières pour l'accès et l’appui sectoriel, et avec une Commission Mixte pour superviser la mise en œuvre de cet APPD. Les risques liés à l'Option 2, sont : un faible retour de valeur pour les fonds de l'UE s'il y a une faible utilisation des possibilités de pêche. Toutefois, les objectifs généraux de l'exploitation durable des ressources halieutiques, la transparence, la surveillance et le contrôle de la pêche au thon, la stabilité financière, la sécurité juridique pour les opérateurs de l'UE, une coopération renforcée entre l'UE et le Ghana (y compris au niveau régional et de la CICTA) et les droits de l'homme et les principes démocratiques seraient plus susceptibles d'être atteints que dans l'Option 1. Cela s’explique principalement par la valeur ajoutée associée à l'implication de l'UE en vertu de l'Option 2. Cette dernière ferait en sorte que les conditions d'accès soient cohérentes avec la nouvelle PCP, que l'appui sectoriel soit fourni au Ghana, et que la surveillance de la conduite de l’APPD intervienne par le biais d’une Commission Mixte. S’assurer que l'accès à la ZEE pour les navires de l'UE est basé sur les APPD plutôt que sur des accords privés, est en accord avec la réflexion à long terme de l'UE pour qui les APPD sont préférables aux accords d'accès privés signés par les flottes des États membres. Enfin, étant donné que l’exploitation durable des ressources et un prérequis incontournable pour soutenir les avantages économiques et sociaux à long terme pour les deux parties, l'Option 2 est recommandée.


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Resumen

Introducción

1. Este informe proporciona una evaluación ex ante de un posible acuerdo de asociación en materia de pesca sostenible (SFPA) entre el Unión Europea (UE) y la Republica de Ghana. La flota de gran altura de la UE ha faenado en el Golfo de Guinea con el objetivo de pescar atunes tropicales desde los años 1950, y hoy mismo próximamente un 10% de su captura global es del Océano Atlántico. Aunque la UE nunca ha llegado a tener un acuerdo de pesca con Ghana, la flota de la UE ha faenado en aguas de Ghana mediante acuerdos comerciales privados desde 2007. Los atunes tropicales del Atlántico son altamente migratorios y ampliamente repartidos, y están pescado en zonas económicas exclusivas (ZEE) de estados costeros, tanto como en alto mar, debido sus patrones de migración estacional. Recientemente, Ghana ha mostrado interés en llevar a cabo un acuerdo con la UE, después de la suspensión de la identificación previa de Ghana como un país no cooperante con temas de pesca ilegal, no declarada, y no reglamentada (INDNR) en 2015.

2. Esta evaluación tiene por objetivo, informar a los responsables a prestar un mandato a la Comisión Europea para negociar un SFPA con Ghana por parte de la UE. Esta evaluación fue realizada entre Febrero y Julio, 2016, y estuvo basada en: una revisión de la literatura pertinente; consultas con las organizaciones regionales en el Océano Atlántico Oriental (OAO), una visita de los contratistas a Ghana (15 a 21 de Abril, 2015), y consultas pertinentes en la UE con los servicios de la Comisión Europea, el Servicio Europeo de Acción Exterior (SEAE), administraciones de los Estados Miembros y el sector privado.

Contexto

3. Ghana está situada en la costa del Golfo de Guinea en el Océano Atlántico, compartiendo fronteras con Burkina Faso, Togo y Côte d’Ivoire. La superficie de Ghana es 238.533km2, y la costa se extiende alrededor de 550km. La costa está formada en gran parte, por largas extensiones de playas de arenas de bajo nivel, detrás de las cuales existe una llanura costera, aparte del oeste donde la selva llega el mar. In 2016, Ghana tenía un población estimada de 28 millones de habitantes con un crecimiento de población de 2,2% y una esperanza media de vida de 62 años. El sector pesquero es muy importante por las comunidades costeras de Ghana. Los ingresos derivados de la pesca y actividades asociadas constituyen entre 55 a 67% de todos los ingresos del hogar, y alrededor del 10% de la población está involucrada en el sector.

4. En 1960, Ghana consiguió su independencia y en 1992 reestableció un régimen democrático multipartidista. La próxima elección está prevista para el 7 de Noviembre, 2016. Ghana se caracteriza como una País de renta media baja con una renta nacional bruta total (RNB) de USD 42.652.664.235 y una RNB per cápita de USD 1.590 en 2014. Según el informe de Pronostico Económico, la tasa de crecimiento económico se ha ralentizado en los últimos años al 7,3% en 2013 a 3,9% en 2015. Se espera una recuperación del crecimiento económico, en parte debido al aumento de producción de gas y petróleo, inversión en el sector privado, una mejora de la infraestructura pública y la estabilidad política del país. En 2016, el índice de facilidad de hacer negocios del Banco Mundial clasificó Ghana como el mejor de los países de África Occidental, y el 114º de 189 países en 2015. El índice de desarrollo humano de Ghana sigue mejorando, y en 2015, se clasificó 140º de 188 países.

5. La Agenda de Crecimiento y Desarrollo Compartida II de Ghana (ACDCG), 2014-2017, proporciona el marco político global para un crecimiento social y económico coordinado. La ACDCG contempla intervenciones y varios sectores, incluidos los de pesca y acuicultura. El sector pesquero es uno de las fuentes más importantes de proteína animal, con más de 61% de la proteína consumida proporcionada por pescado, y el consumo per cápita era 27.2kg en 2012. El sector de pesca contribuyó directamente un 1,2% del PIB en 2014.

6. Ghana importó bienes materiales con un valor de EUR 13.130 millón, e exportó 7.290 millón en 2014. Sus principales socios exportadores son el UE-28 (34,7% de exportaciones totales), China (10,7%), Taiwán (8,7%) e India (7,3%), en tanto que sus principales socios importadores incluye China (24,5% de


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importaciones totales), el UE-28 (22,7%) y Nigeria (13,1%). La UE es el socio comercial más importante, con un comercio total valorado a EUR 5.998 millón (2014). Se exportaban de productos pesqueros a la UE en 2014, con un valor de EUR 24 millón, y 131 millón de importaciones en el mismo año.

7. Ghana es un miembro del Unión Africana, la Comunidad Económica de Estados África Occidental (CEEAO), y varias organizaciones de pesca regional (OPR) y organizaciones regionales de ordenación pesquera (OROP) que incluye: el Comité Subregional de Pesca del golfo de Guinea (FCWC); el Comité de Pesca del Atlántico Centro-Oriental (CPACO); La Conferencia Ministerial sobre la Cooperación pesquera entre los Estados Africanos Ribereños del océano Atlántico (COMHAFAT); y la Comisión Internacional para la Conservación de Atún Atlántico (CICAA).

8. En principio, Ghana colaboró con la UE mediante los Convenios Lomé y de Cotonú, y luego a través del Acuerdo de Asociación entre los Estado de África, el Caribe y el Pacifico, y la UE. La Programa Indicativo Nacional (PIN) recibe ayudas del 11º Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo (FED) que suman un total de EUR 323 millones de 2014 hasta 2020, y se tratará de: Gobernanza; y gestión y fiscalización del sector público; agricultura en la zona ecológica de la sabana; y empleo y protección social. La Programa Indicativo Nacional (PIN) para África Occidental (2014-2020) bajo el 11º FED, tiene EUR 1.150 millones disponible para centrar en integración regional.

9. Los Jefes del Estado de CEEAO apoyaban el Acuerdo de Asociación Económica (AAE) con la UE, y en 2014 abrió el acuerdo a la firma. Al menos dos tercios (11) de CEEAO países tiene que firmar el AAE antes del 1º Octubre 2016, para que entre en vigor. Artículo 49 del Acuerdo se dedica a la pesca, y sienta las bases para el desarrollo sostenible de la pesca en la región: Se obliga ambos partes a trabajar juntos con este objetivo. Hasta el 1 de Octubre, 2016, Ghana seguirá beneficiándose de acceso libre de impuestos y cuotas. Si el AAE no entra en vigor, Ghana, con respeto a los productos pesqueros, pagara aranceles de importación, de los cuales, en el caso del atún enlatado, será 20.5%. La única alternativa sería la firma de una AAE bilateral intermedia.

Panorama regional

10. La UE tiene varias SFPA y protocolos activos con nueve países en el región, seis de ellos son para la pesca de atún únicamente, y tres para acuerdos mixtos que incluye la pesca de atún. Los SFPA de atún permiten que los buques de la UE puedan seguir las poblaciones de atunes de una jurisdicción costera a otra, o de la alta mar a aguas bajo jurisdicción nacional. Un SFPA con Ghana seria clave en asegurar esta red regional. Las capturas totales en volumen en el OAO del promedio del quinquenio de 2006 a 2010 era 350.000T. Buques con pabellón de la UE representan un tercio de todas las capturas en el Atlántico, contando con cerqueros atuneros, palangre y a menor medida, cañeros. Se han desarrollado muy intensamente la pesca de bancos asociados con dispositivos de concentración de peces (DCP) en los últimos años.

11. El marco de gestión de la pesca de atún en África Occidental incluye varios niveles jurisdiccionales y diferentes escalas geográficas: 1) Internacional, con arreglo a las convenciones internacionales; 2) Atlántico, con el CICAA; 3) Regional, con los OPR, sus intervenciones apoyan la evaluación y gestión de recursos, aunque no tengan mandato de gestión; 4) nacional, a través de las regulaciones internas de los países involucrados. Al nivel regional, lo más importante con respeto al atún es CICAA, que define el marco regulatorio para el gestión de atún por varias resoluciones, recomendaciones y decisiones que se dirigen, entre otros, el total de capturas permisibles (TCP) para el bonito del norte y el patudo; restricciones de esfuerzo y capacidad para las varios métodos de pesca; y medidas técnicas (tallas mínimas, cierres temporales y espaciales para la pesca con los DCP, etc.). La cantidad de palangreros en la flota de la UE no puede superar el nivel actual. Además, como la cuota asignada para el pez espada, la principal especie objetivo, junto con el tiburón se alcanza con regularidad, no se prevé un mayor desarrollo de la pesca. Por otro lado, la flota de los cerqueros de la UE no ha llegado a su máxima capacidad, pero las perspectivas de desarrollo tendrían que apuntar al listado porque el rabil esta sobreexplotado y las capturas ya han alcanzado los niveles máximos para el patudo y bonito del norte.


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12. El atún capturado por los buques de la UE en el OAO pasa por diversos sectores de transformación, que incluyen: transformación en África Occidental y luego se consume en Europa (80.000T por año), transformación y consumición en Europa (40.000T por año), y transformación y consumición en Asia (12.00T por año). Se venden las capturas incidentales (15.000T por año) durante las escalas en el puerto, mientras que se transportan 150T de tiburones a España cada año, donde se quitan las aletas para su transporte a Hong Kong y entrada al mercado asiático. CICAA proporciona el análisis y asesoramiento sobre la condición de las poblaciones de atunes tropicales. En 2014 se evaluaron el patudo del Atlántico como sobreexplotado y ocurrió la sobrepesca; En 2014, se evaluaron las poblaciones del listado del Atlántico oriental como, ´lo más probable es que no’ estuviesen sobreexplotado y ‘lo más probable es que no’ ocurriese la sobrepesca; en 2010 se evaluaron el rabil como sobreexplotado pero no ocurrió la sobrepesca, aunque también se notaba la incertidumbre asociada con este evaluación.

Gestión de la pesca en Ghana

13. En 2013, se restableció el Ministerio del Desarrollo de Pesca y Acuicultura de Ghana (MOFAD) para proporcionar una dirección de política y administración, con el objetivo de dar la vuelta a las malas fortunas del sector. La política de pesca y acuicultura (2008) prevé que el sector contribuirá a loa objetivos macroeconómicos generales por seguridad alimentaria y nutricional y la reducción de pobreza en una manera sostenible y económicamente eficaz. El 2014-2017 Plan de Desarrollo del Sector a Medio Plazo (MTDP) es un plan ambicioso que aspira a proporcionar esto a medio plazo mediante inversión pública y desarrollo y el apoyo de asociados en el sector pesquero.

14. La principal legislación que regula la actividad pesquera es el ‘Fisheries Act 2002’, que se modificó en 2014, y el ‘Fisheries Regulations 2010’ que se modificaron en 2015. Las legislaciones proporcionan, entre otros, el establecimiento de un Comisión Pesquera (FC), el desarrollo de planes de gestión de las pesquerías con la implicación de las partes interesadas, una amplia abanico de medidas de conservación y gestión, una zona litoral reservada para los buques de pesca semi-industrial, canoas y barcos de pesca deportiva, la prohibición de capturar especies protegidas, una talla mínima de desembarque para las especies de importancia comercial. De acuerdo con la legislación, la pesca de atún es la única pesquería que permite la participación extranjera mediante un negocio conjunto. Sin embargo, el Ministro responsable para la pesca puede conceder el acceso sin cumplir estos requisitos. En la actualidad, y desde 2007, cerqueros Europeos han faenado dentro del ZEE de Ghana bajo de esta ‘exención’. Se anticipa que un posible SFPA entre la UE y Ghana pertenecerá la misma exención.

15. El Ministerio está encabezado por un Ministro y asistido por un Viceministro. Hay un director ejecutivo, quien es el responsable administrativo, con el apoyo de cuatro directores quienes son responsables para los cuatros direcciones principales: Finanzas y Administración; Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos; Políticas, Planificación, Supervisión y Evaluación; e Investigación, Estadísticas, Relaciones Publicas e Información. El FC es responsable de la regulación y gestión de recursos pesqueros, y de la coordinación política. La asignación presupuestaria del MOFAD en 2014 era EUR 32.647.756. De la cual, se asignaron 6% para la compensación de los empleados, 10% para los productos y servicios y 84% para los bienes. Sin embargo, solo gastaron 26%.

16. El MOFAD proporciona dictámenes científicos, basado en la investigación y el desarrollo, para la gestión de pesca. El programa de la investigación se centra en la generación y recopilación de información científica, aunque la capacidad de realizar análisis está limitada. Recientemente, se llevaron a cabo un estudio con el F/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen del FAO, con nueve científicos Ghaneses a bordo, que ha ayudado a aumentar la capacidad local, y proporcionar una estimación de la biomas de las poblaciones de peces.

17. La unidad de la ejecución de las normas de la pesca (el FEU) incluye personal de la armada, las fuerzas aéreas y del FC. Las sanciones por infracciones son las más estrictas en la región aunque hasta la fecha, su aplicación no ha sido comprobada totalmente. Sistemas de Seguimiento de Buques (conocido como VMS) son obligatorios para los buques industriales y semi-industriales Ghaneses y buques extranjeros. Se han instalado sistemas de Identificación Automática (conocido como AIS) en los buques Ghaneses activos (33


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atuneros, 86 arrastreros (especies mixtas), 2 buques congeladores y 1 buque de abastecimiento). En Julio de 2015, se capacitaron 70 observadores de alto mar, y ahora está en vigor un programa de observadores en la flota nacional de la pesca de atún, con una cobertura de 100%. Buques de la Armada llevaron a cabo 442 horas de patrullas en 2014, y realizaron 65 abordajes e inspecciones de buques en el mar, que resultaron en 30 detenciones. En los puertos de Tema y Takoradi, se realizaron 657 inspecciones en arrastreros, 154 en atuneros y 186 en buques congelados involucrados en la importación de pescado. El FC es la autoridad competente con la responsabilidad de conceder la autorización de exportación de conformidad con el Reglamento CE 1005/2008 para prevenir, desalentar y eliminar la pesca INDNR.

La pesca el la ZEE de Ghana

18. La información recopilada de la base de datos del MOFAD en 2014 mostró que la producción pesquera sumó 295.357T en 2014, formado por volumen de: pesca artesanal (61%), pesca de bajura (2%), pesca industrial (11%) y pesca de atún (26%). En el sector industrial, hay arrastreros, cañeros y cerqueros del Pabellón Ghanés, y cerqueros extranjeros dirigidos a la pesca de atún. En total, hay 140 buques industriales autorizados para pescar en Ghana en 2015, que incluye 44 buques de pesca de atún, de los cuales, 18 son extranjeros, y 13 están registrados con la UE (cuatro Españoles y nueve Franceses) con el resto de pabellón Belice, Cabo Verde y Curazao. La aplicación de las tasas de licencia a los buques extranjeros incluye gastos de aplicación y transformación de USD 5.000 y USD 10.000 respectivamente, y una tasa según el GRT (tonelaje de registro bruto). Basado en la información proporcionado por los armadoras Franceses, esto indica que los cerqueros Europeos pagan alrededor USD 45.000 y USD 110.000 cada año para la autorización a faenar en la ZEE Ghanés, según el GRT del buque. En 2015, Ghana recaudó EUR 1.196.061 de tasas de las autorizaciones de pescar.

19. El MOFAD declaró una captura total de atún de todos los buques industriales (cerqueros y cañeros) para el 2014 de 76.844T (67% listado, 25% rabil, 6% patudo y 3% otros). Con estimaciones extraídos de la bases de datos de CICAA, las capturas de los cerqueros Europeos en la ZEE Ghanesa han alcanzado una nivel medio alrededor 2.900T en el periodo 2005 a 2014 (con un mínimo de 1.670T y un máximo de 4.440T). Esta cifra corresponde al 3,1% de la media de las capturas totales por cerqueros Europeos en el mismo periodo (y 7,5% de todo el atún pescado en las ZEE de los países Africanas Occidentales). También las cifras indican que hay una incertidumbre considerable con respeto a las estimaciones de las capturas anuales. Además, indican que los cerqueros Europeos han reportado capturas de atún en la ZEE de Ghana cada año desde el 1990, excepto el 2006.

20. Las cifras proporcionadas a los asesores por el CE indican que los cerqueros faenando en la ZEE de Ghana han capturado 1.570T en 2012, 1.946T en 2013, 3.083T en 2014 y 1.110T en 2015. Se informaron que el rabil formó la gran mayoría de las capturas. De hecho, la composición de especies capturadas por los cerqueros Europeos están dominados por el rabil (69% de todas las capturas), que es lo normal considerando que la mayoría de la pesca está dirigida a los bancos libres. Los armadores Franceses informaron que entre 2010 a 2013, seis buques han capturado entre 1.630 y 2.630T cada año, y en 2015, 8.887T, dentro de la ZEE de Ghana. No había datos disponibles sobre los números de días que los buques Europeos han faenado en la ZEE Ghanesa, aunque el análisis de las capturas por mes indican que los buques de la Union Europea pescan aproximadamente unos dos meses por año en la ZEE de Ghana.

21. Ghana exporta pescado de alto valor, que incluye congelado y lomos de atún enlatados, de lo cual incluye una media de 30.344T cada año (entre 2012 a 2014) al UE con un valor de EUR 128.885.800. Hay dos conserveras de atún en Ghana: La más importante, es la Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC) que es un parte del Thai Union Group, que es el productor de atún más grande del mundo, y produce entre 40.000 y 45.000T cada año, de las cuales se exporta una parte substancial al UE.

22. Fuentes de información sobre las capturas de atún en la ZEE de Ghana proporciona perspectivas diferentes. En general, parece que hay un acuerdo que la amplia flota Ghanesa, que forma alrededor de 60% de los buques autorizados a pescar en la ZEE, están en muchos casos, buques operando bajo


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negocios conjuntos, con una participación extranjera considerable. Casi 80% de los 40% de los buques extranjeros autorizados a pescar para el atún en la ZEE Ghanesa, son cerqueros Europeos.

23. Se estima que con referencia al tiempo que emplean los cerqueros europeos pescando en la ZEE de Ghana a través de autorizaciones privadas, contribuyen anualmente con 50 miembros de la tripulación europeos y otros miembros de la tripulación 50 no europeos. Se estima que alrededor de 45 personas están empleadas directamente en Ghana en el enlatado de las capturas realizadas por los cercequeros europeos en aguas de Ghana.

Conclusiones de la evaluación sobre los problemas y necesidades actuales.

24. La gestión y conservación de las especies altamente migratorias en el OAO cae bajo el mandato de la CICAA, pero es responsabilidad de los miembros de la CICAA poner en vigor las resoluciones y recomendaciones de CICAA. La implementación de la gestión de la pesca en Ghana, en particular el control, necesita fortalecer y seguir el marco de gestión recién mejorado por MOFAD y el FC. El apoyo de CICAA y otras organizaciones regionales, e iniciativas y programas respaldadas por los donantes, son muy importantes para Ghana considerando su papel en el sector pesquero como estado de abanderamiento, puerto, costero y mercado.

25. Aunque las capturas de atún en el OAO han permanecidas estables durante la última década, CICAA solo ha evaluado las poblaciones del listado como ´más probable’ que no están sobreexplotados y ‘más probable’ que no haya sobrepesca, mientras que las poblaciones del patudo y rabil son sobreexplotados. Lo cual indica que todos los partes tengan un interés vital en asegurar la sostenibilidad de las poblaciones de atunes, y desarrollar relaciones para mejorar la capacidad de gestión en Ghana y en la región, con el fin de promover la buena gobernanza, avances en ciencia y el monitoreo de la pesca, la implementación de la política pesquera, acontecimientos en la seguimiento, el control y la vigilancia (SCV) y una reducción en la pesca INDNR.

26. Ghana debe aprovechar al máximo todos los beneficios económicos, sociales y nutricionales proporcionados por la pesca, para superar los retos del desarrollo, con un crecimiento económico basado en el sector pesquero. Esto puede contar con beneficios de conceder autorizaciones a los buques extranjeros, de los negocios asociados con los buques que realizan una escala en el puerto de Tema, y de las fábricas conserveras. Beneficios sociales, con respeto el empleo vinculado con el sector pesquero y con la seguridad de la alimentaria y la nutrición, también son fundamentales. Para la UE, se requiere sostenibilidad para cumplir y apoyar los objetivos de la reformada política pesquera común (PPC) y para asegurar que la explotación sostenible a largo plaza de las poblaciones de atún, y por lo tanto el consumo sostenible del consumidor UE.

27. Aunque hay discrepancias entre las diversas fuentes de información sobre las capturas de atún en la ZEE Ghanesa, parece que la numerosa flota Ghanesa esta generalmente dirigida al listado, mientras que la flota extranjera, por la mayor parte, pesca para el rabil. Al parecer el amplio suministro del rabil a las conserveras ha sido el motivo de conceder permiso a pescar a la flota extranjera, y sigue siendo el motivo principal hoy en día. En paralelo, es necesario proteger la competitividad de la flota Ghanesa, en poder suministrar atún a las conserveras. Sin embargo, si resulta que la UE y Ghana no llegan al SFPA, es probable que los buques Europeos seguirán faenando igual en la ZEE Ghanesa bajo permisos privados. Por consecuencia, los beneficios añadidos de una relación más estrecha entre los estados de abanderamiento, la UE y Ghana, probablemente aportarán un régimen de seguimiento mejorado y llegarán a una mejor gestión.

28. El OAO es uno de los regiones más importantes para la flota Europea, y la habilidad de seguir los poblaciones entre diferentes jurisdicciones y el alto mar es clave para la flota Europea. Un posible SFPA con Ghana portaría una contribución importante en asegurar un acceso a largo plazo al ZEE Ghanesa para los cerqueros de la UE. Se considera que el potencial para desarrollar iniciativas regionales dentro de la red de los SFPA en África occidental merece ser estudiado. Esto puede incluir la posibilidad de costes de acceso coherentes, enfoques a la manera de embarcar las tripulaciones y observadores de los estados de


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abanderamiento, y métodos sobre los Sistemas de Seguimiento de Buques (conocido como VMS), el Sistema de Identificación Automática (conocido como AIS) y los sistemas electrónicos de notificación.

Conclusiones sobre los dos opciones considerado por la evaluación ex ante.

29. Este informe llevó a cabo una evaluación sobre dos posibles intervenciones políticas, u opciones, en coherencia con el reglamento financiero de la UE. La primera opción es no tener un SFPA, y dejar que los armadores individuales o sus asociaciones siguen negociando acceso a la ZEE Ghanesa. La segunda opción es un SFPA que dará oportunidades alrededor 13 cerqueros de la UE para faenar en la ZEE Ghanesa, con contribuciones financieras para el acceso y apoyo sectorial, y con un comité conjunto para dirigir la aplicación. Mientras que existen algunos riesgos, por ejemplo un bajo valor en relación con el dinero gastado por los fondos de la UE si la utilización de las oportunidades es baja, es más probable alcanzar los objetivos generales, como los de la explotación sostenible los recursos pesqueros; la transparencia, el seguimiento y control de la pesca de atún; la estabilidad financiera; la seguridad jurídica para los operadores de la UE; la cooperación reforzada entre la UE y Ghana (incluido tanto al nivel regional como a la CICAA); los derechos humanos; y los principios democráticos; con la segunda opción en comparación con la primera opción. Esto se debe principalmente al valor añadido por consecuencia de la participación de la UE al aplicarse la segunda opción. La segunda opción aseguraría que las condiciones del acceso son consistentes con la reforma del reglamento PPC, que un apoyo financiero es proporcionado el sector en Ghana, y que la supervisión del SFPA ocurría mediante un comité conjunto. Además, el acceso mediante los SFPA en vez de acuerdos privados, es coherente con el planteamiento a largo plazo de la UE, que los SFPA son preferentes a los acuerdos privados firmados por las flotas de los estados miembros. Por último, teniendo en cuenta que la explotación de recursos de una manera sostenible es fundamental para los beneficios económicos y sociales a largo plazo, la segunda opción debe ser la favorita.


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Table of contents

Executive summary .......................................................................................................................................... ii

Résumé ............................................................................................................................................................. ix

Resumen ......................................................................................................................................................... xv

Table of contents ........................................................................................................................................... xxi

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1

1 General background to Ghana ........................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Geography, population and maritime zones ...................................................................................... 3 1.1.1 Geography .................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Population ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.3 Maritime zones and delimitation of maritime boundaries .............................................................. 4

1.2 Political situation ............................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 National budgetary and macro-economic situation............................................................................ 5 1.4 Trade from and to Ghana .................................................................................................................. 8 1.5 Regional integration .......................................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Relations with the EU ...................................................................................................................... 10

1.6.1 Development cooperation ........................................................................................................... 11 1.6.2 Other instruments related to trade of fisheries products with the EU .......................................... 11

1.7 Fisheries sector development cooperation ...................................................................................... 12 1.8 Summary of likely developments in the short and medium term ..................................................... 12

2 Regional overview ............................................................................................................................. 13

2.1 Environmental characteristics ......................................................................................................... 15 2.2 The tuna fishery in the East Atlantic Ocean .................................................................................... 15 2.3 Management and conservation of tunas in the region ..................................................................... 16

2.3.1 International agreements ............................................................................................................ 16 2.3.2 ICCAT ......................................................................................................................................... 16

2.4 Access to fisheries zones in the region ........................................................................................... 17 2.5 The tuna sector in the East Atlantic including EU engagement ....................................................... 18

2.5.1 Bigeye tuna ................................................................................................................................. 18 2.5.2 Skipjack ...................................................................................................................................... 19 2.5.3 Yellowfin ..................................................................................................................................... 19 2.5.4 Description of the EU sector operating in the region ................................................................... 20

2.6 Identification of possible problems, threats and needs common to the region ................................ 21

3 Fishery resources in the Ghanaian EEZ .......................................................................................... 22

3.1 The coastal and marine environment of Ghana............................................................................... 22 3.2 Non-tuna fishery resources ............................................................................................................. 22

3.2.1 Marine fisheries resources .......................................................................................................... 23 3.2.2 Inland fisheries resources ........................................................................................................... 23

4 Fishery governance ........................................................................................................................... 24

4.1 Description and analysis of the fisheries policy framework ............................................................. 24 4.1.1 Fisheries policy ........................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.2 Fishery policy sector challenges ................................................................................................. 25

4.2 Description and analysis of the fisheries legislation ........................................................................ 25


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4.2.1 International commitments in fisheries matters ........................................................................... 25 4.2.2 Fisheries laws and regulations .................................................................................................... 25 4.2.3 Other relevant laws and regulations ............................................................................................ 26 4.2.4 Management plans and measures .............................................................................................. 26 4.2.5 National marine protected areas ................................................................................................. 27 4.2.6 Fisheries agreements and arrangements ................................................................................... 28

4.3 Organisation of the institutional framework for fisheries .................................................................. 28 4.3.1 Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Fisheries Commission ........................ 28 4.3.2 Fisheries budget ......................................................................................................................... 28 4.3.3 Fishery sector stakeholders ........................................................................................................ 30

4.4 Science and research capacity ....................................................................................................... 31 4.5 Monitoring, control and surveillance ................................................................................................ 31

4.5.1 Legal basis for MCS .................................................................................................................... 31 4.5.2 The MCS system ........................................................................................................................ 32 4.5.3 Key IUU fishing risks and incidence ............................................................................................ 34 4.5.4 Piracy .......................................................................................................................................... 34 4.5.5 International cooperation in fighting IUU fishing .......................................................................... 35

4.6 Catch certification ............................................................................................................................ 36

5 Fisheries in Ghana ............................................................................................................................ 37

5.1 Inland fisheries and aquaculture...................................................................................................... 37 5.1.1 Inland fisheries ............................................................................................................................ 37 5.1.2 Aquaculture ................................................................................................................................. 37

5.2 Marine fisheries ............................................................................................................................... 37 5.2.1 Artisanal and inshore fisheries .................................................................................................... 37 5.2.2 Industrial marine catching sector ................................................................................................ 38 5.2.3 Tuna industrial catching sector ................................................................................................... 40

5.3 The onshore tuna industry ............................................................................................................... 43 5.3.1 Ports and infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 43 5.3.2 Fish processing, distribution markets and trade .......................................................................... 44

5.4 Profitability of EU purse seiners ...................................................................................................... 46 5.5 Impact of the tuna fishery on Ghana ............................................................................................... 48

5.5.1 Catching sector ........................................................................................................................... 48 5.5.2 On-shore ..................................................................................................................................... 49

5.6 Short-term and medium-term outlook for fisheries .......................................................................... 49

6 Ex ante evaluation ............................................................................................................................. 51

6.1 Problem analysis and needs assessment ....................................................................................... 51 6.1.1 Needs shared by both the EU and Ghana .................................................................................. 51 6.1.2 Ghana needs .............................................................................................................................. 52 6.1.3 EU needs .................................................................................................................................... 54

6.2 Objective setting .............................................................................................................................. 56 6.2.1 General objectives ...................................................................................................................... 56 6.2.2 Specific objectives ...................................................................................................................... 56

6.3 Delivery mechanisms ...................................................................................................................... 57 6.3.1 Option 1: no SFPA between the EU and the Ghana ................................................................... 57 6.3.2 Option 2: an SFPA between the EU and the Ghana ................................................................... 57 6.3.3 Regional SFPA between the EU and West Africa ....................................................................... 58 6.3.4 Risks and mitigating measures ................................................................................................... 58 6.3.5 Conclusion regarding the two options ......................................................................................... 60

6.4 The added value of EU involvement in a SFPA............................................................................... 61


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6.5 Lessons learned from the past ........................................................................................................ 61 6.6 Planning future monitoring and evaluations .................................................................................... 62 6.7 Helping to achieve cost-effectiveness ............................................................................................. 62

7 Key findings and conclusions .......................................................................................................... 64

7.1 Key findings and conclusions about current problems and needs ................................................... 64 7.2 Key findings and conclusions about the two options considered by the ex ante evaluation ............ 65

8 References ......................................................................................................................................... 66

Annexes

Annex A: currency exchange rates ................................................................................................................... 69 Annex B: list of acronyms/abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 70 Annex C: consulted organisations .................................................................................................................... 73 Annex D: maritime borders ............................................................................................................................... 75 Annex E: methodology for calculating the estimates of tuna catches in the EEZ of Ghana .............................. 77 Annex F: estimated catches by EU purse seine vessels in the ICCAT ............................................................. 78 Annex G: key strategic interventions and expected outputs from the MTDP by 2017 ...................................... 80 Annex H: FCWC legal framework overview ...................................................................................................... 82 Annex I: proposed allocation of functions required to implement the MTDP ..................................................... 83 Annex J: sanctions to fisheries violations in Ghana and FCWC countries ........................................................ 85 Annex K: stakeholder institutions ...................................................................................................................... 88

Figures and tables

Figures

Figure 1.1: Ghana's locality in the Gulf of Guinea ............................................................................................... 3 Figure 1.2: (a) Ghana's EEZ as usually depicted (b) area of EEZ disputed by Côte d'Ivoire .............................. 5 Figure 2.1: map depicting AIS tracks from fishing vessels in Western Africa from January to April 2015 ......... 14 Figure 3.1: seasonal variations in sea surface temperature in Tema 2013 to 2014 .......................................... 22 Figure 4.1: boardings, arrests and patrols made by the FEU in 2015 ............................................................... 33 Figure 4.2: reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery in West Africa in 2016 .......................................... 35 Figure 5.1: estimated yearly catches of the EU purse seine fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ ................................... 41 Figure 5.2: average monthly catches in the Ghanaian EEZ by EU purse seine fleet (2005-2014) ................... 41 Figure 5.3: average catches by species in the EU purse seine fleet catches in the Ghanaian EEZ ................. 42 Figure 5.4: estimated catches of the EU-owned foreign-flagged purse seine fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ ......... 42 Figure 5.5: estimated catches by the Ghanaian fleet fishing in the Ghanaian EEZ .......................................... 43 Figure 8.1: map of the EEZs of eastern Gulf of Guinea as presented by VLIZ (2012) ...................................... 76 Figure 8.2: alternative interpretation of EEZ boundaries in the eastern Gulf of Guinea .................................... 76 Figure 8.3: percentage of the 1° squares that fall within the EEZ of Ghana ..................................................... 77


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Tables

Table 1.1: Ghana’s development indicators compared to Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire ........................................... 6 Table 1.2: Ghana’s GDP by sector as % of total GDP ........................................................................................ 7 Table 1.3: EU trade with Ghana – imports and exports (million EUR) ................................................................ 8 Table 1.4: EU-28 merchandise trade with the Ghana, by SITC product grouping, 2014 (million EUR) .............. 8 Table 1.5: membership of Ghana and other FCWC countries in relevant regional arrangements .................... 10 Table 1.6: Ghana non-EU donor support in the fisheries sector ....................................................................... 13 Table 2.1: ratification of relevant international agreements by Ghana and other FCWC countries ................... 16 Table 2.2: summary of status of tropical tuna in the eastern Atlantic from ICCAT ............................................ 20 Table 2.3: catch estimates by EU purse seiners in the ICCAT area 2010 to 2014 (t) ....................................... 20 Table 4.1: summary of MOFADs allocations, releases and actual expenditure 2013 to 2014 (EUR) ............... 29 Table 4.2: funds allocation and expenditure according to programmes 2014 (GHS and EUR) ........................ 30 Table 5.1: marine fish production in Ghana EEZ from 2008 to 2015 (t) ............................................................ 37 Table 5.2: total number of industrial fishing vessels authorised to fish in Ghana EEZ 2011 to 2015 ................ 38 Table 5.3: foreign industrial fishing vessels authorised to fish in Ghanaian waters (2010 – 2015) ................... 38 Table 5.4: existing and proposed licence fees for access to the Ghanaian EEZ .............................................. 39 Table 5.5: licence fees collected by year for fishing authorisations 2011 to 2015............................................. 39 Table 5.6: catches of tuna and tuna like species in Ghana EEZ for 2011 to 2015 (t) ....................................... 40 Table 5.7: EU imports from Ghana of fish and seafood products for 2013 to 2014 .......................................... 44 Table 5.8: costs and revenue for the Atlantic fleet of Spanish purse seiners (EUR) ......................................... 47 Table 5.9: costs and revenue for the Atlantic fleet of French purse seiners (EUR) ........................................... 47 Table 6.1: summary comparison of two policy options being evaluated ........................................................... 60 Table 8.1: currency exchange rates used in this report .................................................................................... 69 Table 8.2: organisations consulted in Europe ................................................................................................... 73 Table 8.3: organisations consulted in Ghana .................................................................................................... 73 Table 8.4: estimated catches by EU purse seine vessels in the ICCAT area 1995 to 2014 (t) ......................... 78 Table 8.5: proposed allocation of functions required to implement the MTDP .................................................. 83 Table 8.6: comparative table on sanctions to fisheries violations for Ghana and other FCWC countries ......... 85 Table 8.7: stakeholder institutions and their relationships with the Fisheries Commission ............................... 88


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Consortium: COFREPECHE (leader) – MRAG – NFDS – POSEIDON Ex ante evaluation of a possible future FPA and protocol between the EU and Ghana – Final Report

Introduction

In July 2011, the European Commission (EC) adopted a Communication on the external dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)3 and proposed several actions to reform Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPAs). The Council adopted conclusions regarding the External Dimension of the CFP on 19 March 20124 and the European Parliament report adopted in November 20125. SFPAs are complementary to, and reinforce, the European Union’s (EU) strategy to create a network of fishing opportunities for its fishing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean; they are intended to subscribe to the EU global strategy for sustainable exploitation of resources, ocean governance and contribute to food supplies and security, and to employment6. At present, the EU has active SFPAs and Protocols with nine7 countries in the region.

This Report provides an ex ante evaluation for a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA)8 between the EU and the Republic of Ghana9. It aims to provide sufficient data and information for the negotiation and implementation of a new Protocol if so decided. The framework and scope of the evaluation are defined by the Terms of Reference provided to the consultants and are informed by the Council Decision of 19 July 2004 on SFPAs (COM (2002) 637 final), the Council conclusions of 19 March 201210 and on the conclusions and recommendations of the Court of Auditors’ report on the Commission’s management of Fisheries Partnership Agreements11. The conclusions in particular set out the principles and standards that apply in relation to SFPAs, including long-term fisheries sustainability, strengthening regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) and negotiating bilateral and multilateral agreements.

According to Article 27(4) of the Financial Regulation and Article 21 of its Implementing Rules, Commission Services have to ensure that the spending activities they manage are subject to an ex post and/or ex ante evaluation in terms of the human and financial resources allocated and the results obtained in order to verify consistency with the objectives set. These evaluations must be proportionate to the resources mobilised for, and the impacts of, the programme and activity concerned. The Commission requires the evaluation and analysis of impacts to support its focus on improving the quality and coherence of the policy development process, including those that guide programmes of the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) and the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The EU distant-water fishing fleets have been targeting tropical tunas in the Gulf of Guinea since the 1950s. They currently catch about 10 % of their global tuna catch in the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of mainly skipjack (70 %), yellowfin (25 %) and bigeye (5 %)12. The EU fleet have been fishing in Ghana’s waters under private licences since 2007, as the EU has never concluded a fisheries agreement with Ghana. The tropical tunas of

3 Communication from the Commission to the European parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions on the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, COM(2011) 424 final, of 13.7.2011 4 Council conclusions on the external dimension of the CFP, 19.03.2012, 7086/12 (http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/agricult/129052.pdf) 5 European Parliament’s report on the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, of 22.11.2012 6 CFP, Article 2(5), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:354:0022:0061:EN:PDF 7 http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/agreements/index_en.htm [2016, May 24)] 8 Throughout this report when referring to the ‘SFPA’ we refer to the SFPA, Protocol, and Annex. When referring specifically to the ‘Protocol’ we refer to both the Protocol and the Annex 9 Throughout this report when referring to Ghana we refer to the Republic of Ghana 10 Council conclusions on a communication from the Commission on the external dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, 19 March 2012 11 European Court of Auditors, 2015. Are the Fisheries Partnership Agreements well managed by the Commission? , found at: http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR15_11/SR_FISHERIES_EN.pdf 12 Workshop and Meeting Report ‘West Africa Regional Collaboration for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS)’ and ‘Towards a Sustainable Tuna Fishery in the Coastal States of the West Africa Sub Region’. The Bureau of National Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture supported by the West Africa Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP) Liberia, October 30 – November 2, 2012, Golden Gate Hotel, S.K.D. Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia.


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the Atlantic are highly migratory and widely distributed; fishing vessels targeting these large pelagic species, both within coastal state exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and on the high seas in order to follow the migration of the tuna. Fishing opportunities for the EU fleet within any third country EEZ are either granted through SFPAs or through private agreements. SFPAs provide the European fleet with access to the coastal waters of countries that have resources which they cannot, or do not wish, to fish. They are based on objectives that include: contributing towards resources conservation and environmental sustainability through responsible fisheries; protecting the EU long distance fleet and associated employment; creating a network comprising EEZs in which EU fleets are allowed to fish and supporting the development of sustainable fisheries sectors by allocating a part of the EU’s financial contribution to support national fisheries policy in the partner countries.

The port of Tema is, together with Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) and Dakar (Senegal), one of the three main tuna processing and export ports in the East Atlantic Ocean region. Ghana has recently expressed an interest in concluding an agreement with the EU. This is despite the EU in 2013 pre-identifying Ghana as a non-cooperating country on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing issues13. The pre-identification was lifted in October 201514 following a high level of cooperation and amendments by Ghana to their fishery management framework. This change in status and improvement in the status of the fisheries management system paves the way for possible negotiations between the EU and Ghana leading to an SFPA.

The Council Conclusions on the External Dimension of the CFP (March 2012) request that an ex ante evaluation be undertaken by the European Commission (EC) before a new SFPA is negotiated, as would be the case for Ghana. This report presents information collected from various sources, including Directorates General of the EC including Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), Health and Food Safety (DG Santé), Delegations of the EU, EU Member State administrations and professional association groupings of EU ship owners concerned with the utilisation of fishing opportunities.

The report also draws on the findings of a mission in Ghana that took place between 14 and 22 April 2016, during which discussions were held with key Ghanaian stakeholders (see Annex C for a full list of people consulted). The evaluation also takes into account the 2013 regional analysis15, providing the Commission with a more global picture of the fisheries resources and fisheries sector situation and opportunities in the Western African region. The findings and the evaluation are presented in nine chapters as follows:

• Chapter 1 presents a general background of the situation in Ghana; • Chapter 2 presents a regional overview of the Western African tuna fishery; • Chapter 3 presents the coastal and marine environment and fishery resources of Ghana; • Chapter 4 presents detail on fisheries governance in Ghana and its state of implementation; • Chapter 5 presents the fisheries in Ghana and associated information; • Chapter 6 provides an ex ante evaluation of a potential SFPA based on the analysis of impacts; • Chapter 7 provides some conclusions and recommendations; • Chapter 8 provides the references and the Annexes provide supporting information.

13 Commission Decision of 26.11.2013 on notifying the third countries that the Commission considers as possible of being identified as non-cooperating third countries pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. OJ C 346 of 27.11.2013 14 Notice of information of the termination of the demarches with third countries notified on 26 November 2013 of the possibility of being identified as non-cooperating third countries pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. OJ C 324 of 2.10.2015 15 COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles, 115 p.


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1 General background to Ghana

1.1 Geography, population and maritime zones

1.1.1 Geography

The Republic of Ghana gained independence in 1957 and become a republic in 1960. It is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, bordered to the northwest and north by Burkina Faso, to the east by Togo, to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Côte d’Ivoire (see Figure 1.1). It has a total land mass of 238 533 km2, 11 000 km2 of which is covered by water16. The capital is Accra, on southern Ghana’s coast.

Figure 1.1: Ghana's locality in the Gulf of Guinea

Source: Geographic Guide17

Ghana’s climate is tropical and comparatively dry along the southeast coast, warm and humid in the southwest and warm and dry in north. In the north there are two seasons—a dry season from November to March, and a wet season that reaches its peak in August and September18. In the southern part of the country, there are two rainy seasons—one from April to July and a lesser one from September to November.

Ghana’s coastline extends for about 550 km and is generally low lying (≤ 200 m above sea level)19. The coast consists mostly of a low sandy shore, behind which stretches the coastal plain. Except in the west, where the forest comes down to the sea, the plain is mostly flat and generally covered with grass and scattered fan palms. Streams and rivers run across the entire country. The largest river, the Volta, has three branches, all of which originate in Burkina Faso. Almost all rivers north and east of the country's major drainage divide are part of the vast Volta drainage system, which covers some 157 989 km2. The river Volta and these rivers flow into Lake Volta. To the south and southwest of the plateau several smaller independent river systems flow directly into the Gulf of Guinea. According to a 2010 study, which compared the vulnerability of national economies to potential climate change impacts on their capture fisheries, Ghana was ranked 25 out of 33 nations found to be “highly vulnerable”20.

16 World Fact book, Ghana - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html [2016, April 20] 17 http://www.geographicguide.com/africa-maps/west.htm [2016, April 20] 18 http://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana [2016, April 20] 19 http://coast.iwlearn.org/en/countries/ghana-demonstration-project-environmental-management-systems-eco-tourism-and-poverty- alleviation [2016, April 25] 20 http://www.uba.ar/cambioclimatico/download/Allison%20et%20al%202009.pdf [2016, April 25]


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1.1.2 Population

Ghana had an estimated total population of 28 million (March 201621), some four million of whom live in the Greater Accra area, which includes Tema, Ghana’s most important port. The other 43.4 % live in the four coastal regions22. The population growth rate is 2.2 % and the average life expectancy is 62 years23. The fisheries sector is very important for Ghana’s coastal communities, with “fish income”, including downstream activities such as smoking fish, constituting about 55 to 67 % of total household income24. In a study on the vulnerability of fishing-dependent economies to disasters, it was noted that 13.4 % of Ghana’s economically active population were dependent on fisheries25. This figure is not dissimilar to an estimate, based on 2014 government statistics, that the sector employs over 2.7 million people as fishers, processors, boat owners, boat builders, and in other ancillary jobs, this would be almost 10 % of the total population and a higher percentage of economically active people.

1.1.3 Maritime zones and delimitation of maritime boundaries

Ghana declared a 200 nautical mile EEZ through the promulgation of the Marine Zones (Delimitation) Act 198626 (see Figure 1.2 (a)). However, the Act did not define the maritime boundaries with adjacent states. Although Ghana claims an EEZ of about 225 000 km2 27 it had not, until the discovery of oil in commercial quantities, negotiated and agreed its maritime borders and coordinates with neighbouring states. There is a significant area of some 30 000 km2 of EEZ which is claimed by Ghana but disputed by Côte d’Ivoire28 (see Figure 1.2 (b)). Following a series of failed bilateral negotiations between the two countries, Ghana brought the case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2014. The ruling by the ITLOS is not expected before 2018. Until the dispute is resolved, this area would need to be excluded from the fishing zone in the event of a SFPA being concluded between the EU and Ghana (see Annex D for more more detail regarding the dispute.)

Ghana, recognising the need to avoid disagreements over boundaries in the future, announced in September 201429 that it would negotiate and agree a definitive EEZ boundary to the east. To this end it would seek to open negotiations with Togo, Benin and Nigeria in order to reach agreement regarding its eastern maritime border (negotiations with the three countries to the east are explained in Annex D).

21 World Population Review, 2016 found at: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/ghana-population/ 22 Ghana Statistical Service, May, 2013. 2010 Population & Housing Census, National Analytical Report. Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010phc/National_Analytical_Report.pdf 23 Ibid. 24 Elaine T. Lawson, Christopher Gordon, Wolfgang Schluchterb, 2012. The dynamics of poverty–environment linkages in the coastal zone of Ghana, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 67, October 2012, Pages 30–38. 25 Badjeck, M.-C., Perry, A., Renn, S., Brown, D. & Poulain, F. 2013. The vulnerability of fishing-dependent economies to disasters. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular No. 1081. Rome, FAO. 19 pp. 26 Republic of Ghana. Maritime Zones (Delimitation) Act, 1986. Found at: http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha1193.pdf. 27 F.K.E. Nunoo, B. Asiedu, K. Amador, D. Belhabib and D. Pauly 2014, Reconstruction of Marine Fisheries Catches for Ghana, 1950-2010, Working Paper #2014 – 13, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia. 28 Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Request for the prescription of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, under article 290, Paragraph 1, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 29 (https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/case_no.23_prov_meas/C23_Request_prov_measures_translation_Reg.pdf


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(a)

(b)

Figure 1.2: (a) Ghana's EEZ as usually depicted (b) area of EEZ disputed by Côte d'Ivoire

Source: (a) Adapted from Marine Coastal Programme (b) Government of Côte d'Ivoire30

1.2 Political situation

Following independence in 1960, military governments ruled Ghana between 1966 and 1992, when a multi-party democratic system was re-established. There are two main political parties: the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). Following the most recent general elections31 in 2012, the NPP disputed the results in the Supreme Court, which ruled that John Dramani Mahama had been fairly elected President. Ghana continues to manifest a liberal political economy with a vibrant media sector and is considered to be one of West Africa’s most resilient democracies32. The next general election is due to take place on 7 November 2016, which should be noted for its possible impact on a possible negotiation process.

1.3 National budgetary and macro-economic situation

Ghana’s gross national income (GNI) for 2014 in current USD stood at USD 42 652 664 23533. With a total population of some 26.79 million in 2014, GNI per capita was USD 1 590 in 201434. Ghana is classified as a lower-middle income country, a status recently attained.

In December 2014 the Government published “The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017”35. It provides the framework for implementing the President’s Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Policies, 2014-202036. The GSGDA recognises that while overall levels of poverty have declined, they remain high in some places and among certain socio-economic groups, especially

30 Government of Côte d’Ivoire, Request for the prescription of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, under article 290, Paragraph 1, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Found at: at: https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/case_no.23_prov_meas/C23_Request_prov_measures_translation_Reg.pdf 31 The president is elected using a two-stage system and 275 Members of Parliament are elected in a single member, first past the post system, whereby the candidate with the most votes is elected as a member of parliament for a constituency regardless of whether or not they have a majority of the votes cast. See: http://ghanaelection2016.ghanaweb-news.com/ 32 African Economic outlook country report, 2015 33 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.ATLS.CD 34 World Bank data found at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD/countries 35 Government of Ghana, 2014a, The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017 36 Government of Ghana, 2014b found at: http://www.presidency.gov.gh/coord.pdf


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those in the informal sector. It points out that, although Ghana has begun to produce oil in commercial quantities, the resulting revenue has so far not been sufficient to support critical investments in priority areas like infrastructure. The GSGDA sets out a range of interventions in various sectors with the aim of achieving ‘a stable, united, inclusive and prosperous country with opportunities for all’. To achieve this objective, the GSGDA envisages interventions in a number of sectors, including in fisheries and aquaculture, for example by improving fisheries management with a particular focus on food security and income generation.

Although Ghana registered relatively good economic growth in 2014, the economy faced major challenges in the form of a sharp currency depreciation, deepening energy crisis, deteriorating macroeconomic imbalance and rising inflation and interest rates37. According to the 2015 Economic Outlook Report, Ghana’s economic growth rate slowed in recent years from a rate of 7.3 % in 2013 to an estimated 3.9 % in 2015. The economic growth rate is expected to recover to about 6 % in 2016, partly as a result of an increase in oil and gas production, private sector investment, improved public infrastructure and the country’s political stability. The World Bank index on the ease of doing business ranks Ghana at 114th (2016) out of 189 countries, making it the highest ranked country in West Africa, above neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire at 142 and Togo at 15038.

Ghana was ranked by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) Human Development Index (HDI) 140th out of 188 countries in 2015, which puts the country in the medium human development category39. Between 1980 and 2014, Ghana’s HDI value increased from 0.415 to 0.579, an increase of 39.5 % or an average annual increase of about 0.98 %, an indicator of improvements in health, education and income. Ghana’s 2014 HDI though is below the average of 0.630 for countries in the medium human development group and above the average of 0.518 for countries in sub-Saharan Africa (see Table 1.1 for Ghana’s development indicators).

Table 1.1: Ghana’s development indicators compared to Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire

Indicator (2014 unless stated) Ghana Côte d’Ivoire Nigeria Gross domestic product (GDP) (EUR) 40 28.32 billion (2014) 25.12 billion (2014) 416.86 billion (2014) Real GDP growth rate over 2013 final estimate 4 % (2014)41 8.5 % (2014) 6.3 % (2014) Inflation rate , consumer prices 17.1 % (2014) 1.2 % (2014) 9 % (2014) GDP per capita (EUR)42 1 057.05 (2014) 1 133.52 (2014) 2 348.80 (2014) Human Development Index (HDI) 0.579 (2014) 0.462 (2014) 0.514 (2014) Life expectancy at birth 61 (2014) 52 (2014) 53 (2014) Adult literacy rate 77 % (2015) 43 % (2015) 60 % (2015) Mean number of years at school 7.0 (2014) 4.3 (2014) 5.9 (2014) Living below poverty line 24.2% (2012) 46.3% (2015) 46.0 % (2009) Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)43, World Bank44 and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) institute of statistics45.

37 African Economic Outlook, 2015. http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/african-economic-outlook/ 38 http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings 39 http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/GHA.pdf 40 Values converted from USD to EUR using 2014 conversion rate 41 Ghana Statistical Service, 2015. Revised 2014 Annual Gross Domestic Product 42 Values converted from USD to EUR using 2014 conversion rate 43 http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries 44 http://data.worldbank.org/country 45 http://www.uis.unesco.org/DataCentre/Pages/regions.aspx


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Table 1.2: Ghana’s GDP by sector as % of total GDP

SECTOR 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

% point change

2009-2014 1. AGRICULTURE 31.8 29.8 25.3 22.9 22.4 21.5 -10.3

1.01 Crops 23.6 21.7 19.1 17.2 17.4 16.8 -6.8

1.02 Livestock 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 -0.8

1.03 Forestry and Logging 3.7 3.7 2.8 2.6 2.2 2.3 -1.4

1.04 Fishing 2.5 2.3 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.2 -1.3

2. INDUSTRY 19.0 19.1 25.6 28.0 27.8 26.6 7.6

2.01 Mining and Quarrying 2.1 2.3 8.4 9.5 9.4 8.0 5.9

of which oil and gas 0.0 0.4 6.7 7.7 8.2 7.2 7.2

2.02 Manufacturing 6.9 6.8 6.9 5.8 5.3 4.9 -2

2.03 Electricity 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 -0.1

2.04 Water and Sewerage 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 -0.2

2.05 Construction 8.8 8.5 8.9 11.5 12.0 12.7 3.9

3. SERVICES 49.2 51.1 49.1 49.1 49.8 51.9 2.7

3.01 Trade; Repair Of Vehicles, Household Goods 5.9 6.2 5.9 5.6 5.8 5.6 -0.3

3.02 Hotels and Restaurants 6.2 6.0 5.4 4.8 5.8 5.6 -0.6

3.03 Transport and Storage 10.5 10.6 10.7 11.0 11.2 12.3 1.8

3.04 Information and communication 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.2 1.7 2.3 0.5

3.05 Financial and Insurance Activities 4.3 5.2 4.4 4.7 6.5 8.4 4.1

3.06 Real Estate, Professional, Administrative & Support Services

4.1 4.5 4.6 4.8 3.9 3.6 -0.5

3.07 Public Administration & Defence, Social Security 7.0 7.0 7.0 6.8 5.9 5.4 -1.6

3.08 Education 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.3 3.6 3.6 -0.6

3.09 Health And Social Work 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.0 -0.4

3.10 Community, Social & Personal Service Activities 3.7 4.0 3.9 3.7 4.3 4.1 0.4

4. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT at basic prices 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: Ghana Statistical Service, 2015. Annual Gross Domestic Product46

Table 1.2 provides an overview of Ghana’s GDP estimates for 2009 to 2014 as percentages of total GDP. 2014 showed a growth rate of 4.0 % over the final GDP estimates for 2013. The highest growth rate of 5.6 % was recorded by the services sector followed by agriculture with 4.6 % growth47. The fisheries sector is recognised as one the most important sources of animal protein in all regions of the country. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) over 61 % of animal protein in the Ghanaian diet comes from fish and the per capita fish consumption is 27.2 kg (FAO, 2012). According to the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS, Round 6 2014) fish and seafood make up 15.8 % of food budget share in all

46 Ghana Statistical Service, 2015. Revised 2014 Annual Gross Domestic Product Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/GDP/GDP2015/Annual_2014_GDP_Rev2_June_2015%20edition.pdf [ accessed 2016 April] 47 Ghana Statistical Service, 2015. Revised 2014 Annual Gross Domestic Product Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/GDP/GDP2015/Annual_2014_GDP_Rev2_June_2015%20edition.pdf [ accessed 2016 April]


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households and over 25 % of food expenditure in rural households48. The fisheries sector contributed approximately 1.2 % to GDP in 2014. This figure only considers the primary sector of catching. Its relative contribution to GDP has declined in recent years with the more rapid growth of other sectors (see Table 1.2).

1.4 Trade from and to Ghana

Ghana imported from the rest of the world49 goods valued at EUR 13.13 billion and exported EUR 7.29 billion in 2014. Its main export partners are the EU-28 (34.7% of total exports), China (10.7%), Taiwan (8.7% and India (7.3%) while its main import partners include China (24.5% of total imports), the EU 28 (22.7%) and Nigeria (13.1%) (European Commission Trade, 2014)50. The EU is Ghana’s most important trading partner with total trade valued at EUR 5.998 billion (2014) and with whom Ghana has enjoyed a positive trade balance in the past years (2012 to 2014).

Table 1.3: EU trade with Ghana – imports and exports (million EUR)

2011 2012 2013 2014

Exports 2 926 3 613 3 416 3 112

Imports 3 481 3 300 3 379 2 885

Balance − 555 313 37 227

Total Trade 6 407 6 913 6 795 5 998

Source: European Commission Trade statistics, 201451

According to the African Economic Outlook, Ghana country report, 2015, Ghana’s external trade continued to perform poorly in 2014 largely because of a decline in export earnings. There was a slow recovery in the commodity prices of its major export commodities, notably gold and cocoa, and production of crude oil levelled off at around 100 000 barrels per day. Notwithstanding reduced export earnings, gross foreign exchange reserves were boosted by the inflows of the Eurobond of USD 1 billion floated in September 2014, leading to improved import cover from two and a half months in June 2014 to 3.2 months in December 2014.

Table 1.4: EU-28 merchandise trade with the Ghana, by SITC product grouping, 2014 (million EUR)

Product 2014 Exports Agricultural products (food and raw materials) of which fish was EUR 24 million 398

Fuels and mining products 1 234

Chemicals 314

Iron and steel 33

Clothing 5

Machinery and transport equipment 729

Textiles 12

Other manufactures 134

Other semi-manufactures 216

Other products 37

48 48 Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) 2014 August. Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/glss6/GLSS6_Main%20Report.pdf [accessed 2016 May 26] 49 Excluding intra-regional trade 50 European Union, Trade in goods with Ghana. Found at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_122461.pdf [accessed 2016 April] 51 European Union, Trade in goods with Ghana. Found at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_122461.pdf [accessed 2016 April]


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Product 2014 Total exports 3 112

Imports Agricultural products (food and raw materials); of which fish: EUR 131 million 1 483

Fuels and mining products 1 311

Chemicals 1

Iron and steel 3

Clothing 15

Machinery and transport equipment 27

Textiles 0

Other manufactures 0

Other semi-manufactures 5

Other products 40

Other 0

Total imports 2 885 Balance 227 Source: European Commission Trade statistics, 2014

Fish products have been one of the country’s important non-traditional export commodities to the EU. In 2014 the value of fishery products exported to the EU amounted to EUR 24 million. This figure was less than in previous years and may relate to the EC having issued Ghana a ‘yellow card’, or formal warning, amid concerns over the country's lack of action to address deficiencies in combating illegal fishing in 201352. Although this did not entail any trade embargo at the time, the fear was that if not addressed, a ban on fishery products to the EU from Ghana could be issued53. Following significant reforms by Ghana, the ‘yellow card’ was lifted in October 201554. This is expected to have a positive effect on fish exports from Ghana to the EU. In 2014 Ghana imported from Europe EUR 131 million worth of fish and fish products.

1.5 Regional integration

Ghana has been a member of the African Union (AU) since its establishment in 1999 and was a member of the preceding Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The establishment of the AU marked a shift in focus away from the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles and towards the vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”55.

Ghana is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the 15-country regional economic community (REC) for West Africa established in 1975. ECOWAS was formed to promote “economic cooperation and regional integration as a tool for an accelerated development of the West African economy”56.

The relationship between the AU and the RECs was mandated by the Abuja Treaty and the AU Constitutive Act. The RECs serve as the building blocks for African integration57.

Ghana is a member of various regional fisheries bodies (RFBs) and RFMOs:

52 EC press release, 2013 November 26. European Commission intensifies the fight against illegal fishing. Found at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1162_en.htm [accessed 2016 May 26] 53 https://houseofocean.org/tag/ghana/ [accessed 2016 May 26] 54 EC press release, 2015 October 1. Fighting illegal fishing: Commission warns Taiwan and Comoros with yellow cards and welcomes reforms in Ghana and Papua New Guinea. Found at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5736_en.htm [accessed 2016] 55 http://www.au.int/en/about/nutshell [accessed 2016 May 24] 56 ECOWAS website: http://www.ecowas.int/about-ecowas/vision-2020/ [accessed 2016 May 24] 57 http://www.au.int/en/organs/recs#sthash.3nHKMt9o.dpuf [accessed 2016 May 24]


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• The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) • The Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) • The Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic

(ATLAFCO) • The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) • The International Whaling Commission (IWC) • The Intergovernmental Organization for Marketing and Cooperation Services for Fishery Products in

Africa (INFOPECHE)

Table 1.5: membership of Ghana and other FCWC countries in relevant regional arrangements

Benin C. Ivoire Ghana Liberia Nigeria Togo

ATLAFCO x x x (s) x (s)**

AU x x x x x x

CECAF x x x x x x

ECOWAS x x x x x x

ICCAT -* x x x x -

INFOPECHE - x x x x x

Source: consultants’ compilation

Key: (x) member or party (s) signatory; *Benin was an ICCAT member from 9 January 1978 to 31 December 1994; **Togo actively participates in ATLAFCO meetings, although it has not ratified the Convention.

In addition Ghana is also a member of the following additional non-marine RFB’s:

• Committee on Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture of Africa (CIFAA) - a regional advisory body of 37 countries. The main objective of the CIFAA is to promote the development of inland fisheries and aquaculture in Africa58

• The Volta Basin Authority (VBA) – established in December 2005 by the six riparian states (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana Mali and Togo) to manage the water and other related resources of the Volta Basin59

1.6 Relations with the EU

Ghana has had a long-standing relationship with the EU, firstly through the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements and subsequently through the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000. Within this framework the EU and Ghana regularly engage in dialogue relating to political, social, development, trade, regional and governance issues.

58 Regional Fishery Bodies Summary Descriptions: Committee on Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture of Africa (CIFAA), Found at : http://www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/cifaa/en [accessed 2016, May 26] 59 Rebecca Welling, Megan Cartin, Désiré Baykono and Ousmane Diallo, 2012. Water And Nature Initiative (WANI) Case Study Volta river basin: Ghana and Burkina Faso https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2012-010.pdf [accessed 2016, May 27]CP


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1.6.1 Development cooperation

At National level

Development co-operation at a national level takes the form of focal areas of intervention agreed between the EU and Ghana and defined in the National Indicative Programme (NIP), supported by the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for a total amount of EUR 323 million agreed for 2014 to 2020. Sectors covered are:

• Governance: public sector management and accountability. This is of relevance to fisheries in relation to the generation of revenue and management in a transparent manner, consolidation of the rule of law, and that it applies particularly to natural resource management and the environment.

• Productive investment in agriculture in the savannah ecological zone. This area of sectoral support could have relevance for inland fisheries as the sector aims at establishing a sustainable and inclusive, rural economy, also through enhanced implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation practices.

• Employment and social protection. This third sector has a particular focus on the informal economy, which absorbs some 84 % of the total labour force and is characteristic of the fisheries sector in which young people and women tend to be the more disadvantaged.

At Regional level (including all ACP levels)

The Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) concluded between the EU and the West Africa region (2014-2020) under the 11th EDF will make EUR 1.15 billion available to the region with priorities centred on regional integration. These priorities are: peace, security and regional stability; regional economic integration and support for trade and private sector; resilience, food and nutritional security and natural resources.

In addition, the EU-funded project ‘Support to free movement of persons and migration in West Africa’ has been allocated EUR 26 million for 2013 to 2018 to assist in promoting the regionally endorsed strategies for migration that may be strongly linked to the maritime sector as a corridor for migration.

1.6.2 Other instruments related to trade of fisheries products with the EU

ECOWAS, of which Ghana is a member, initialled the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, in June 2014 and on 10 July 2014, ECOWAS Heads of State endorsed the Agreement and opened it for signature. Nigeria, Gambia and Mauritania still need to sign the EPA in order for the EPA to be ratified by at least 11 countries before 1st October 2016. The Agreement will enter into force on the first day of the first month following ratification by all EU member states and of at least two thirds of ECOWAS countries60.

Article 49 of the Agreement is devoted to fisheries and lays the foundation for comprehensive cooperation in every aspect of the fisheries sector and promotes the sustainable development of the fisheries in the region avoiding overexploitation of stocks and any negative impact on the environment and the ecosystem. It commits both parties to work together to improve the competitiveness of fisheries products, meet the application of SPS measures and the development of the regional fisheries market. It details a commitment to promote investment and access to funding, and to promoting the sustainable management of small-scale fisheries and the development of aquaculture. Article 49 commits the parties to collaborate in strengthening the fight against IUU fishing by improving MCS, including the development of a VMS system for the whole of West Africa, and the improvement of traceability and certification measures. The parties undertake to work together to improve and reinforce fishery control, surveillance and monitoring mechanisms and to strengthen scientific research.

60 Article 107 EU-ECOWAS EPA


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Since October 2014 and until 1st October 2016, Ghana benefits from the Market Access Regulation (MAR)61, i.e. duty-free quota-free access to the EU market. The MAR is a bridging arrangement for countries which have concluded negotiations on interim EPAs but have not yet ratified them. It permits them to continue enjoying duty free access to the EU market for all their exports including for fish and fish products, providing the conditions of Article 2(3) are met.

Should the EPA not enter into force by the 1st October 2016, Ghana will no longer benefit from MAR and therefore will have the Generalised Scheme of Preferences import tariffs62 imposed on their exports to the EU which, in the case of canned tuna, will be 20.5%. The only alternative would be the signature and implementation of the interim bilateral EPA initialled in 2007 by Ghana.

1.7 Fisheries sector development cooperation

Ghana is a member of several regional fisheries bodies as detailed in section 1.5. As the REC’s are the building blocks of the AU for economic integration, strenuous efforts have been made to integrate work of the regional fisheries bodies with that of the REC’s. This was undertaken by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) planning and coordination agency and more recently by the African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) with support from the EU-funded FishGov Project.

Ghana is one of the focal countries of the Atlantic Ocean Tuna Tagging Programme (AOTTP) funded by the EU (DCI-FOOD/2015/361-161), with contributions from ICCAT, Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) and other contributors. The project officially began in June 201563.

It does not appear that opportunities for funding projects in fisheries and aquaculture as suggested might be possible in 1.6.1 above have been taken up so far.

There has been no significant breakthrough yet in integrating the work of the FCWC and the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) with that of ECOWAS. Both the FCWC and the SRFC have expressed their commitment to AU’s Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa.

1.8 Summary of likely developments in the short and medium term

There are likely to be two significant developments in Ghana in the short to medium term:

• The general and presidential elections will be held on 7 November 2016, this may impact on negotiations or a negotiation timetable for a possible SFPA.

• The outcome of the determination of the maritime border between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana by the Special Chamber of the Law of the Sea Tribunal is expected in 2018; this may impact the area available for the EU fleet to fish in.

61 Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007) , as amended by final Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) of 25.7.2014 62 This is an import tariff which the importer would need to pay, although, in all likelihood, the importer would try to shift as much of the cost to the exporter by demanding a lower price.

63http://www.iccat.int/AOTTP/en/


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Table 1.6: Ghana non-EU donor support in the fisheries sector

Project title Donor Focus areas of project Duration

Budget (EUR)

African solidarity trust fund

UN FAO

Regional project for 6 countries including Ghana. Promotion of youth employment

through sustainable aquaculture and cassava value chains. In aquaculture use youth

groups/gangs to dig and improve ponds.

2015 to 2017

Regional USD 4 m for 3 years

Routine data collection programme

FAO TCP In cooperation with FCWC a regional

programme to upgrade Artfish database for small-scale marine fisheries data compilation.

2 year from mid-

2016

USD 393 000

EAF-Nansen Project ‘Strengthening the Knowledge Base for and Implementing an Ecosystem Approach to Marine Fisheries’ (GCP/INT/003/NOR) 64

Executed by FAO with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) of Norway, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)

The initiative to support the implementation of the ecosystem approach in

the management of marine fisheries. The aim is to promote sustainable utilisation of marine

living resources and protection of the marine environment. Ghana had a demersal and

pelagic survey from the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in April 2016 and assistance to the artisanal sector in management planning is underway

2006 –on-going

n/a

West African Regional Fisheries Project

World Bank loan Africa Catalytic Growth Fund

Good governance, sustainable fisheries management, reduce illegal fishing, increase

contribution of marine resources to local economy

2010-2020 EUR 8.96 m (USD 12 m) for first five

years plus EUR 1.49 m (USD 2 m)

Sustainable fisheries management programme

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

A food security program that seeks to rebuild Ghana’s small pelagic marine fish

stocks, SFMP is a Feed the Future project, a Presidential initiative focused on transforming

the agriculture sector

2014-2019 Over the five-years

USD 24 million65

Capacity building programme for fisheries and coastal management project in Ghana

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Aims to improve upon the infrastructure for training and research on fisheries, increase

scientific knowledge, increase marine and coastal research and resource management,

and to establish a centre for coastal management, among others.

October 2014 -

October 2019

USD 5.5 million

Port development Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

The objective of the Project is to expand the port capacity at Sekondi to meet the

demand of port usage. n/a n/a

West Africa Task Force

Norad

MCS Task Force of the FCWC that assists in information sharing and intelligence

sharing in the FCWC region. Provision of technical, operational and legal support and

capacity building particularly of national working groups for MCS.

2015 to 2018

n/a

Source: consultants’ findings; n/a = not available

2 Regional overview

In 2013 a Regional Report66 was prepared on the tuna fisheries of the East Atlantic Ocean (EAO). This chapter provides an updated overview of this report and additional analysis.

64 http://www.eaf-nansen.org/nansen/en [accessed 2016, May 16] 65 Coastal Resources C 5). The USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project ear 1 Work Plan, October 22, 2014 – September 30, 2015. Narragansett, R Resources Center, Graduate School of Oceanography, Univ. Rhode Island. PW002. 110p. Found at: http://www.crc.uri.edu/download/GH14_PW002_YearOneWorkPlan_508.pdf [accessed 2016, May 16]


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The EAO is one of the main regions for the EU's fishing fleet and at present the EU has active SFPAs and Protocols with nine countries in the East Atlantic region, the most recent being an SFPA and Protocol with Liberia67. Six of the SFPAs concern tuna fisheries only and three are mixed agreements that include tuna. As tunas are highly migratory species, the tuna SFPAs enable EU vessels to obtain fishing authorisations from different coastal states so that they can follow the stocks from one jurisdiction to another or from high seas to waters under national jurisdiction, without having to interrupt their activity. It is essential that the EU fishing vessels operating in the EAO continue to have access to the waters of third countries under the bilateral SFPAs. A potential SFPA with Ghana would play an important part in securing this regional network.

Figure 2.1: map depicting AIS tracks from fishing vessels in Western Africa from January to April 2015

Key: longliners = green, purse seiners = red and trawlers = yellow Source: The West Africa Task Force Note: This map is only intended to be indicative as this is not the period of the peak season for Ghana’s EEZ.

66 COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles, 115 p. 67 A five year agreement and five-year Protocol came into force on the 9 December 2015.


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2.1 Environmental characteristics

Tropical tunas, including the three species (yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack) and other large oceanic species, like swordfish, marlin and shark, all have a very wide geographical distribution in the Atlantic Ocean. Tunas are fished mainly in areas where large currents converge, mainly off Gabon, and where there are deep upwelling waters high in nutrients off the coast of Guinea (in the thermal dome). Other large migratory oceanic species are also caught more generally along the coast of West Africa.

Climate change impacts are likely to have important consequences for the migratory dynamics of tunas. For example, it could shift their concentrations towards colder waters (towards Morocco to the north and towards Angola to the south). Degradation of estuaries may negatively impact on the spawning grounds of small pelagic species, and thus reduce the availability of the feed species of the tunas. This could result in a reduction in the size of the tuna populations and their biomass.

2.2 The tuna fishery in the East Atlantic Ocean

In the EAO, the annual catch volume, for all tuna species combined, amounts to 350 000 t (five-year average: 2006-2010), or 10 % of the global tuna catch. EU vessels account for a third of the overall total catch in the Atlantic. The rest is taken by Ghanaian, South Korean, Japanese and other-flagged vessels. EU vessels in particular use purse seine fishing methods and longlining (Spanish and French vessels), and to a lesser extent pole-and-line fishing. Asian countries notably specialise in longlining (South Korea and Japan). Ghana has a purse seine fleet and an important local pole-and-line fleet that ensure that the country ranks in the top producers of Atlantic tunas.

Pole-and-line fishing vessels have since the start of 2000 focused their activities on Ghana (by Ghana-flagged vessels), Senegal (by Senegalese, French and Spanish-flagged vessels), the Canaries and Madeira (by Spanish and Portuguese vessels). Longline fishing is practised mainly by Asian vessels (South Korea, Japan), mainly targeting bigeye and EU longliners (Spanish and Portuguese) in particular targeting swordfish. Purse seine fishing vessels targeting tropical tunas are mainly Spanish and French.

Fishing using fish aggregation devices (FADs) has been developed intensively in recent years particularly by the Spanish fleet, notably for skipjack. However, significant by-catches of bigeye and albacore juvenile tuna are also reported on FADs. Spatial-temporal closures are imposed by ICCAT on FAD fishing in the Gulf of Guinea68 and in addition to this the fleets are also trying to improve the selectivity of their catch from FADs, for instance by modifying them e.g. by stopping the use of old nets hung from the bottom of the FAD in which non-target species often became entangled.

The level of by-catch in purse seine fishing was estimated to be around 10 % of total catches in 2009, of which 80 % were juvenile tuna species, the rest consisting of a range of other species, including sharks. By-catch levels rose in 2000-2010 due to the intensification of FAD fishing (capture of bigeye and albacore juveniles). The level of by-catch by longliners is estimated to be even higher than that for purse seiners, as between 10 % and 23 % of the catches are oceanic sharks69.

68 14-01 Recommendation by ICCAT on a Multi-Annual Conservation and Management Program for Tropical Tunas, (Entered into force 3 June 2015). http://www.iccat.int/Documents/Recs/ACT_COMP_2015_ENG.pdf 69 COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles, 123 p.


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2.3 Management and conservation of tunas in the region

The management framework for tuna fisheries in West Africa includes several jurisdictional levels and geographical scales: 1) international, under international conventions; 2) Atlantic, with the ICCAT; 3) regional, with RFBs whose interventions support resources assessments and management, albeit without a management mandate (see section 1.7) including the SRFC, FCWC, COREP and CECAF (see section 1.5 for a full list of RFOs and RFMOs); 4) national, through the internal regulations of the countries involved.

2.3.1 International agreements

The national legislation of countries should be consistent with international, regional and sub-regional instruments to which they are committed. Similarly, it should be consistent with agreements made formally as members of an organisation, or decisions accepted as a cooperating non-member. Such states should ideally implement through national legislation any voluntary instruments that have been adopted as international best practice. Several key instruments are relevant to the tropical tuna fisheries of the EAO (see Table 2.1 for state of ratification by Ghana and its neighbouring FCWC countries):

Table 2.1: ratification of relevant international agreements by Ghana and other FCWC countries

Benin Côte d’Ivoire Ghana Liberia Nigeria Togo 1982 UNCLOS x x x x x x 1993 FAOCA x - x - - - 1995 UNFSA

- (s)

ratification in process

- accession in

process x x -

2000 UNTOC x x x x x x 2007 WFC - - - - - - 2009 PSMA

(s) -

accession in process

(s) ratification in

process

- accession in

process

- accession in

process

- accession in

process 1966. ICCAT x x x x Source: consultants’ compilation. Key: x Party; (s) Signatory; UNCLOS - the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)70; FAOCA - the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement; UNFSA - the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement71; UNTOC - the 2000 UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; WFC - the 2007 ILO Work in Fishing Convention (WFC); and PSMA - the 2009 Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) – came into force on 5 June 2016. ICCAT – 1966 International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

2.3.2 ICCAT

ICCAT defines the regulatory framework for tuna management notably by issuing a certain number of resolutions, recommendations and decisions addressing; 1) total allowable catch (TAC) for albacore and bigeye tuna; 2) effort and capacity restrictions for the different fishing techniques; and 3) technical measures (minimum sizes, spatial and temporal closures for FAD fishing in the Gulf of Guinea, etc.).

Work on tuna stock evaluation and research are organised, for the most part, by ICCAT. Each state has the responsibility for the collection of data by vessels flying its flag. The data are then sent to ICCAT for compilation. As some states struggle more and more to send data to ICCAT in due and correct form, and tagging campaigns are more and more spread out over time, the quality of the stock assessments is degraded. Consequently, the prospect of ensuring a sustainable tuna fishery is becoming more uncertain.

70 United Nations, 1982, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 71 United Nations, 1995, Agreement for the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.


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The number of vessels in the EU longliners fleet cannot rise as the capacity ceiling set by ICCAT, based on that noted in 1991 to 1992, has already been met. As the quota allocated for swordfish, the main target species along with shark is regularly reached, no further development of that fishery is envisaged. The EU purse seine fleet has not reached its capacity ceiling, but development prospects are going to have to be aimed at skipjack as yellowfin is overfished and the maximum catch levels for bigeye and albacore have already been reached. Any increase in catches by the EU fleet would have to be achieved through targeting skipjack.

It should be noted that, at the last regular meeting of the Commission, Ghana was elected Chairperson of the Commission for a two-year term.

2.4 Access to fisheries zones in the region

Foreign fishing vessels’ access to the EEZ’s of coastal states result from the signature of a public agreement (between the coastal State and a State or group of States) or a private agreement (between the coastal State and a fishing company or producer organisation) or through the granting of private fishing licenses directly to owners (without any prior agreement). Two other access routes are also used: the fishing joint-venture and the chartering of foreign vessels (in the form of a rental to a coastal state vessel-owner); in which cases fisheries activities then assume a domestic character.

The SFPAs objectives are to: 1) ensure access by EU vessels to third countries’ waters in a sustainable and transparent manner; 2) promote good governance of the waters of third countries; 3) contribute to the market supply needs of the EU. In May 2016, out of the EU’s nine SFPAs active in West Africa, six were tuna agreements and three were mixed agreements that included tuna. One clause within the agreement is of great importance to the operation of EU vessels, the so-called ‘exclusivity’ clause. It does not allow, under any form (notably private agreements) for EU vessels to access the fishery areas of a third country with which there is an SFPA other than through that agreement, whether or not a Protocol applies.

For countries with which the EU has no SFPA, European vessel operators have recourse to other means of gaining access with, in decreasing order of importance, private licenses, joint-ventures and charters. Private licenses in 2016 had been taken up by EU tuna purse seine owners in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Congo, Nigeria, Angola, Guinea and Equatorial Guinea. The main joint-ventures were set up in Senegal by the Spanish and French longliner vessel companies, and some charters were used in Liberia and Ghana. Such access carries risks for European vessel owners because they are placed under coastal state national jurisdictions with little recourse possible in the event of litigation (for example in Liberia prior to agreement being reached on an SFPA in 2016). Also, European vessel companies seek to develop private agreements that are based on the SFPA Protocols in order to give them a more secure regulatory basis (for example, in Guinea and Liberia).

The public agreements reached between Asian countries and African countries are generally opaque. The same applies to private agreements, joint-ventures and vessel charters. Practically all Atlantic-facing African countries make use of public agreements or issue fishing licences to vessel companies not belonging to the EU. Several tuna fleets compete with the operations of EU vessels, notably from Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mauritania and São Tomé and Principe.

Regionally, in addition to the SFPAs that the EU has with Côte d’Ivoire (until 2018) and Liberia (until 2020), Liberia is in the process of negotiating private access agreements with foreign fishing companies targeting tuna species, specifically with the Ghanaian company PANOFI. Côte d’Ivoire has an agreement with Senegal (since 197772) and also has an agreement for tuna fisheries with Japan (since 2000) but this is currently not operational, and they have recently signed a private agreement with the Spanish tuna association OPAGAC. 72 Although the status of implementation is unclear it is worth noting that Côte d’Ivoire has signed an access agreement with Senegal in 1977. The Agreement between the Government of the Ivory Coast and the Government of Senegal in the field of marine fisheries


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2.5 The tuna sector in the East Atlantic including EU engagement

Tuna caught by EU vessels pass through various channels before reaching the consumer markets in different product forms. The main sectors are: the sector in which processing takes place in a West African country and consumption in Europe (80 000 t per year); the sector in which processing is done in Europe, which includes all species caught by the three types of vessels from Europe (40 000 t per year); the sector in which processing and preserving takes place in Asia, which is supplied on the one hand by purse seiners landing catch at Tema (Ghana) and on the other hand by pole and line vessels whose production mainly goes to Japan (combined 12 000 t per year)73.

By-catch is preserved on board and sold during vessel port stop-overs (mostly Abidjan and Tema) and is estimated to account for around 15 000 t per year. The shark fin sector, which is low in volume (150 t) but high in value (around EUR 2.5 million) is supplied by longliners targeting shark. Whole sharks are shipped to Spain, where their fins are removed for onward shipping to Hong Kong and sale into the Asian market.

The Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) of ICCAT is responsible for ensuring that the Commission has access to the best available information, analysis and advice on the status of tropical tuna stocks74. The following sections are extracted from advice given by the SCRS.

2.5.1 Bigeye tuna

The most recent stock assessment for bigeye tuna was conducted in 2015. The results of the previous assessment (2010) were projected until 2014, using the reported catches. The exercise showed that stock status for 2010, when re-estimated in 2015, was actually poorer than originally estimated during the 2010 assessment. The projections done in 2010 showed that the probability of the stock being maintained at levels capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015 was about 60 % with a constant catch of 85 000 t, the level of the TAC. The probability of restoring the stock to the MSY level by 2028 was estimated at 29%, if the future catch was constant at the current TAC level of 85 000 t. To achieve a higher probability of rebuilding, a reduction of current catches or longer timeframes would be required, for example, to raise the probability of rebuilding the stock to 58 %, reducing the catches to 60 000 t per annum would be required. It should however be noted that projecting probabilities of reaching MSY by 2028, based on data prior to 2010 is a perilous exercise and that results should be taken with great caution.

The Atlantic bigeye tuna stock was assessed as being overfished, and overfishing was occurring in 2014.

The highest historic catch of the Atlantic bigeye tuna of 133 000 t occurred in 1994, the total catch in 2014 was 68 390 t. Reported catches75 for 2002-2014 period have been consistently lower than the TAC set at 85,000 t. Current TAC levels have not resulted in the stock achieving levels consistent with the MSY. Spatial closures in

provides for the granting of permits by Senegal to Ivorian vessels to fish in Senegalese waters. Senegal may export its fish products to Côte d’Ivoire without any quantitative restriction, benefiting from a general tax and duty exemption. Such exemption is also ensured with regard to fish products caught by Ivorian vessels in Senegalese waters and marketed in Senegal. Fishing vessels flying the flag of either State shall enjoy in the ports of the other State the same treatment as national vessels. Finally, it is established that an ad hoc committee shall be set up for the purpose of determining the number of permits and for general implementation of the agreement. 73 COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles, 123 p. 74 This section was prepared using a presentation by the chair of the SCRS to ICCAT found at http://www.iccat.int/Documents/SCRS/Presentation/2015/Panel1-2015.pdf and the Reports of Species Groups on bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna [2016, May 23] 75 It would seem that there is underreporting, but difficult to prove but ICCAT reports the following in http://firms.fao.org/firms/resource/15/en: “The unreported catches of some purse seiners were estimated by comparing the monitored landings in West African ports and cannery data to the catches reported to ICCAT. Estimates of the unreported catches of these purse seiners have increased since 2006 and may have exceeded 20,000 tons for the three main species of tropical tunas”.


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the Gulf of Guinea for surface fishing gear arose in part from a concern over the catch of immature bigeye tuna by surface fishing gear. These have evidently been ineffective in reducing the mortality sufficiently to prevent the deterioration of stock status as estimated by the SCRS.

The SCRS recommended that the Commission reduce the TAC to a level that would allow the recovery of the stock with high probability and in the shortest period possible. Such measures should lead to an increase in the long-term sustainable yield. The SCRS recommended that effective measures be found to reduce the fishing mortality of immature bigeye tunas, including that caused by fishing on FADs.

2.5.2 Skipjack

The most recent stock assessment for the eastern stock of skipjack tuna was conducted in 2014. The previous assessment was undertaken in 2008. There has been a sharp rise in the catch of skipjack since 2010, and an historic record catch of 262 579 t in 2012. The catch has remained high at 232 551 t in 2014. The average catch for the previous five years was 161 200 t.

Although there is no evidence that the eastern stock is overexploited, the SCRS recommended that the Commission limit the catch, and the effort it involves, to the level of catch in recent years. This was a precautionary move due to the lack of quantitative findings for the eastern stock assessment and pending the submission of additional data on FADs and the tagging programme. There was also the risk that increasing harvests and fishing effort for skipjack could have negative consequences for other species caught in combination with skipjack in some fisheries. Time/area regulatory measures banning fishing on FADs were adopted primarily to protect juvenile yellowfin and bigeye tuna, although they also impact on the skipjack stock as they are the main target of the FAD fishery.

The east Atlantic stocks were assessed as ‘not probably’ overfished and ‘not probably’ subject to overfishing76.

MSY is estimated to be 'probably higher' than the previous estimate of between 143 000 t and 170 000 t for the Eastern stock and around 30 000 to 35 000 t for the Western stock.

2.5.3 Yellowfin

The last stock assessment for yellowfin tuna was conducted in 2011.

A continuation of catch levels of 110 000 t (TAC) or below (as seen in recent years) were expected to lead to a 60 % probability that the biomass will be at levels capable of producing the MSY by 2016. However, catches in the period 2012 to 2014 were consistently lower than the TAC level, with suspicion of underreporting as for bigeye (see note 73). The SCRS recommended that, if ICCAT wanted to increase the long term sustainable yield, they needed to do it by adopting effective measures that can reduce fishing mortality of immature yellowfin, such as those caught when fishing on FADs.

The SCRS strongly recommended to the Commission that a yellowfin tuna stock assessment be conducted in 2016.

The yellowfin stock was assessed in 2010 as being overfished but not subject to overfishing, although it was noted that there was considerable uncertainty.

76 A stock is “overfished” when exploited beyond the biological level that can be sustained indefinitely (notionally MSY). If a fish stock is subject to overfishing, then the level of fishing effort or fishing mortality is too high to allow the biomass to recover to its MSY level.


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Table 2.2: summary of status of tropical tuna in the eastern Atlantic from ICCAT

Common name Scientific name Overfished (SSB/SSBMSY<1)

Overfishing (Fyear/FMSY>1)

Latest assessment year

Skipjack Katsuwonus pelamis 2014

Yellowfin Thunnus albacares 2011

Bigeye Thunnus obesus 2015 Source: ICCAT reports of the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS)

Key: red – overfished or subject to overfishing; green not overfished or subject to overfishing.

2.5.4 Description of the EU sector operating in the region

Catches in the EAO are reported to ICCAT using a one degree quadrat system, a quadrant being approximately 111 km² at the equator. This makes calculating accurate catches for EEZs impossible; however, a methodology explained in Annex E can be used to determine an estimate that uses proportional allocation of catches by area as the method for allocating catches reported on the boundary of an EEZ. Table 2.3 provides estimates of catches in tonnes taken by EU purse seiners within the EEZs of the countries of the EAO from 2010 to 2014 and also the proportion taken inside and outside of the EEZs. It can be seen that in total around 100 000 t of tuna and tuna-like species are caught in the EAO per year and approximately 50 % of these are caught within the EEZs of the coastal states by EU purse seiners (estimates since 1995 are available in Annex F).

Table 2.3: catch estimates by EU purse seiners in the ICCAT area 2010 to 2014 (t)

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Total catch within EEZs 43 140 48 142 50 229 58 454 51 333

Total catch in ICCAT area 101 364 109 850 106 186 113 647 101 879

% caught within EEZs 43 44 47 51 50

Angola 1 372 7 401 5 319 8 402 7 195

Benin - 2 - - 18

Cameron - 28 - - -

Cape Verde 542 396 2 397 4 543 6 814

Congo 484 518 40 293 50

Cote d'Ivoire 3 493 2 274 4 253 2 823 1 022

DRC 17 357 47 44 20

Equatorial Guinea 4 096 2 117 2 253 4 542 2 166

Gabon 17 124 16 668 65 8 608 16 525

Gambia - 11 1 3 62

Ghana 6,732 3,417 2,836 3,284 2,619

Guinea Bissau 1 324 2 763 1 014 607 310

Guinea Conakry 458 2 107 7 076 6 061 163

Liberia 4 292 5 796 1 575 342 757

Mauritania - - 18 781 17 763 10 852


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Nigeria 10 2 8 1 29

Senegal 106 42 645 275 384

Sierra Leone 2 886 4 237 3 846 861 2 321

Togo 204 6 75 - 25

Source: compiled by consultants from ICCAT data base, applying the baseline estimates of tuna catches (see Annex E)

2.6 Identification of possible problems, threats and needs common to the region

The opportunities for, and barriers to, the conclusion of an SFPA on highly-migratory species between the EU and African coastal states of the Atlantic relate firstly to the availability of tuna species in their national EEZs. Next, there are technical, institutional, economic and competitive issues in turn affecting the efficiency of the roll-out of the SFPA, whether in terms of vessel activities or the management of the relevant Protocol in force. The countries with which the EU already has a SFPA (Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Morocco, Mauritania, São Tomé and Principe and Senegal), offer good opportunities for tuna on a biological level. Two other countries, Ghana and Sierra Leone, equally have good biological profiles that are all the more of interest because their EEZs are on the migration paths of tuna within the Gulf of Guinea.

All of these countries present constraints, in various areas and at different levels, which adversely affect the implementation of SFPAs. The main issues relate to the presence of other foreign, competing fleets (Asian and EU-owned vessel companies flying third country flags), obsolete regulatory frameworks and the difficulties faced by fisheries administrations to enforce rules and to ensure fisheries activities surveillance. In spite of these constraints, SFPAs remain the most efficient access route for EU vessel owners with respect to the difficulties they face with private agreements and licences due to their accompanying opacity and uncertainty. So, even though the potential for tuna fisheries development in the Atlantic Ocean is limited by the limited availability of tuna, the continuation of current SFPAs and their renewal, and in some cases such as Ghana, converting private arrangements into an SFPA arrangement are critical to the proper operability of the EU fleet in West Africa.

It is likely that the expected, and possibly drastic, management measures which will be required for FAD fishing will only increase the importance of vessels having the ability to follow the movement of free schools associated with the migratory stocks, and therefore the need for access to the EEZs of coastal countries.

This opinion is generally supported by the October 2015 European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) report in respect to an audit looking into certain SFPAs. The main concern from the audit was to ensure that fisheries are both economically and environmentally sustainable in the long term and cost-effective. Thus, a network of SFPAs is more likely to enable the EU to support and cooperate with third countries' efforts in favour of the sustainable management of their fisheries and the development of the sector. The report notes that SFPAs have been recognised by most stakeholders and other EU institutions as an attractive tool for regulating the activity of the EU external fleet in a highly regulated and transparent manner.


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3 Fishery resources in the Ghanaian EEZ

3.1 The coastal and marine environment of Ghana

Ghana has one coastline, to the south, stretching for 550 km along the Gulf of Guinea. The coastal oceanographic conditions can be divided into four regimes associated with the upwelling system between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: a short cold season (minor upwelling) in December and January of approximately three weeks, a warmer season between February and June, a long cold season (major upwelling) between July and September, and a short warm season between October and November77.

The sea surface temperature drops regularly during the upwelling event (see Figure 3.1) coupled with reversals of the current on the shelf, the periodic lifting of the thermocline and the transportation of the nutrient-rich water towards the coast. The upwelling events are characterised by high biological activity and production of phytoplankton and zooplankton resulting in higher fishery production, in particular small pelagic species of importance to coastal fisheries such as the sardinellas. The upwelling is considered quite unusual; it is caused by wavelike disturbances of the thermocline known as Kelvin waves which are generated off the coast of Brazil, and take about a month to reach the Gulf of Guinea Coast, where they generate the upwelling events.

Figure 3.1: seasonal variations in sea surface temperature in Tema 2013 to 2014

Source: MOFAD

3.2 Non-tuna fishery resources

Ghana’s fisheries resources are obtained from marine and inland water bodies, and these have formed the economic backbone of many communities for centuries. The tuna fisheries have been described in section 2.5, while the non-tuna fishery resources are described below and in Chapter 5 on associated fisheries.

77 Houghton, R.W. and M.A. Mensah, 1978, Physical Aspects and Biological Consequences of the Ghana and Coastal Upwelling. In Upwelling Ecosystem.


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3.2.1 Marine fisheries resources

Ghana’s marine waters host a total of 485 fish species, of which 347, representing 72 % and belonging to 82 families, are captured in the coastal waters. There are also 17 cephalopod species from five families and 25 crustacean species from 15 families in Ghana’s waters78.

The marine sub-sector has three fisheries, namely small-scale fished by the artisanal sector, semi-industrial or inshore and industrial or offshore, with the artisanal subsector being the most significant of these subsectors in terms of output volume (around 70 %). The most common fish species landed in Ghana are the small pelagics, such as mackerel, horse mackerel, chub mackerel (Clupeidae, Scombridae), sardines and anchovies (Engraulidae). These small pelagic species account for about 70 % of the total marine fish capture in Ghana. Of these exploited pelagics, the commercially most important in Ghana’s coastal fisheries are the sardinellas, namely round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) and Madeiran sardinella (S. maderensis) which occur in the entire Gulf of Guinea. The biomass for small pelagic resources fluctuates significantly and it has been estimated that the small pelagic fishery can sustain a maximum catch of 180 000 tonnes79.

Other fish species commonly caught in Ghana’s waters include cassava fish (Pseudotolithus senegalensis), flat sardinella, largehead hairtail, moonfish, red pandora, snappers (Lutjanus fulgens and L. goreensis) and groupers (Mullidae, Pomadasydae, Serranidae). Also, valuable demersal fish such as sole, shrimp, cuttlefish, burrito (Brachydeuterus auritus), red fishes (Sparidae), burros (Pomadasidae) and threadfins (Polynemidae) are exploited, especially during the upwelling seasons (between December/January to February and again between July and September). Estimates of the biomass show that the potential yield of the total demersal biomass on Ghana’s continental shelf is between 36 000 and 55 000 t per annum with an average of approximately 43 000 t.

Even though there is a specialised shrimp fishery in Ghana, shrimps are caught by all fleets (except tuna fishing vessels) mainly in shallow waters and close to estuaries. Artisanal operators catch shrimps mainly with beach seines, these are normally juvenile shrimps of very low commercial value. Through a modelling approach, the MSY of shrimps is estimated to be 350 t per annum excluding catches of artisanal fishers.

3.2.2 Inland fisheries resources

Lake Volta has a surface area of 8 480 km² and 5 200 km shoreline. It contributes about 90 % of the total inland fishery production in Ghana, which is around 75 000 t. Lake Volta is host to about 140 fish species. Fish landings from this lake are dominated by tilapia (38.1 %), Chrysichtys spp. (34.4 %) and Synodrantis spp. (11.4 %).

78 FAO Ghana fisheries country profile, updated 2016 http://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/GHA/en [2016, May 24] 79 FAO Ghana profile, 2007 http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/k7480b/k7480b03.pdf [ accessed 2016, May 24]


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4 Fishery governance

In January 2013, the government of Ghana (GoG) acknowledged by that the fishery sector was underperforming and re-established the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD), to provide policy and administrative direction with the aim of turning around the fortunes of the sector in the medium to long-term. The Ministry has since focused on policies and on the implementation by the Fisheries Commission (FC) of programmes to promote sustainable exploitation and responsible utilisation of the fisheries resources.

4.1 Description and analysis of the fisheries policy framework

4.1.1 Fisheries policy

The Republic of Ghana Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (2008) foresees that the sector will “contribute to socio-economic development through food and nutritional security and poverty reduction in a sustainable and economically efficient manner, within the natural limits of capture fisheries resources and environmental protection requirements, and with a strongly established basis for accelerated growth in aquaculture production”. Thus, the Policy recognises that the fisheries sector is a critical part of the wider economy and must contribute to the Government's macro-economic objectives. Importantly the Policy also establishes development principles to guide its implementation. These principles are wide-ranging but have a strong emphasis in reducing poverty, ensuring equity and accountability, and ensuring the sustainability of the resource as well as the management system that underpins it through the adoption of sound fiscal policy.

The Policy itself establishes four major strategic focus areas:

• The management of fisheries, conservation of aquatic resources and protection of their natural environment;

• The promotion of value addition in the fisheries sector and the improvement of livelihood in the fisheries communities;

• The sustainable development of aquaculture; and,

• The improvement of services provided to the sector by the Ministry of Fisheries80 and other supporting institutions.

Fisheries and aquaculture in Ghana are expected to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda II (GSGDA 2014-2017). The GSGDA specific objectives related to fisheries and aquaculture are: to enhance fish production and productivity; to promote aquaculture development; and to improve institutional coordination for agriculture (fisheries) development.

The 2014-2017 Sector Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) of the MOFAD focuses on development interventions that are intended to drive the fisheries sector and industry to contribute more effectively to the overall development of Ghana. The Plan serves to guide the operations of the Ministry, the private sector, and collaborating agencies in the fisheries sector. It functions as a medium term road map for Government investment and development partners’ support in the fisheries sector for the 2014-2017 period. It is also informed by the Ghana National Aquaculture Development Plan (GNADP) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2012-2016), the Sustainable Marine Resource Management Plan of MOFAD (2015-2019), and a number of government development policy statements and research works relating to the accelerated transformation of the fisheries sector in Ghana. The MTDP harmonises Government priority development policies that underpin the growth potentials of the fisheries sector and industry in a coherent manner for implementation. 80 This was before MOFAD was formed.


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4.1.2 Fishery policy sector challenges

The Ghana MTDP is a strong strategic plan for moving the sector in the direction that the Policy envisages over the next five years. The MTDP sets seven explicit targets to be met in five years and the programme of activities that will be implemented to meet these targets. The implementation of this plan is targeted at what are considered the main targets for the sector, namely:

• maintaining current capture fisheries production; • increasing revenue and profitability in capture fisheries by at least USD 50 million per year after five

years; • increasing aquaculture production from 9 000 to 100 000 tonnes per annum within five years; • retaining Ghana as a landing and processing hub for the West Africa tuna industry; • developing fisheries management to allow effective control of all commercial fishing effort in Ghanaian

waters; and, • ensuring fisheries management costs are sustainable and that the fisheries sector overall makes a

fiscal contribution to Government revenues.

See Annex G for the key strategic interventions and expected outputs from the MTDP. A challenge will be the allocation of responsibility for implementation between different Agencies and Directorates, see Annex I for a proposal on the allocation of functions that has been proposed by the WARFP but not yet implemented.

4.2 Description and analysis of the fisheries legislation

4.2.1 International commitments in fisheries matters

Ghana is a party to the 1982 UNCLOS, the 1993 FAOCA and the 2000 UNTOC, but is yet to accede to the 1995 UNFSA and the 2007 WFC, and to ratify the 2009 PSMA, to which the country is a signatory. Accession to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) and ratification of the PSMA are reportedly in process. Ghana is also a member of all international and regional organizations relevant to fisheries and maritime affairs, namely the AU, ECOWAS, ICCAT, INFOPECHE, FCWC81, ATLAFCO and CECAF, as well as the Abuja MoU (see Tables 1.5 and 2.1)

4.2.2 Fisheries laws and regulations

The main piece of legislation governing fishing activities in Ghana is Fisheries Act no. 625 of 2002, which repeals the 1991 Fisheries Law, except for Part 1 on the building and importation of motor fishing vessels. Ghana has amended its 2002 Fisheries Act in 2014 (Fisheries (Amendment) Act no. 880). The act is implemented by the 2010 Fisheries Regulations (LI 1968) that were amended in 2015 by the Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations (LI 2217), incorporating a number of port State measures. In an attempt to make the application of the fisheries legal framework and the associated national and international shipping and maritime framework more robust and transparent, MOFAD has produced in 2015 ‘Guidelines for the registration and licensing of fishing vessels (industrial and semi-industrial) in Ghana'. This includes sections on local industrial vessels, semi-industrial vessels, a fishery licence evaluation committee, procedure for the replacement of fishing vessels, conditions for joint venture for tuna fishing, crew composition, certificate required on the vessel, and fish transhipment/export.

81 See Annex H for a summary of the legal framework for FCWC that is applicable for Ghana.


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4.2.3 Other relevant laws and regulations

Also of interest is the 1963 Wholesale Fish Marketing Act, which regulates fish product safety and quality82, and the three main texts on vessel registration: the 1986 Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority Act, the 2002 Ghana Maritime Authority Act and the 2003 Ghana Shipping Act.

Regulations on the importation, export, distribution and marketing of fish and fish products may be adopted under the Fisheries Act (article 139). All fish imported into Ghana shall be accompanied by a health certificate delivered by the competent authority of the exporting country, specifying the origin of the fish, and delivered for inspection by fisheries inspectors. It is prohibited to possess fish imported in contravention of the 2010 Fisheries Regulations or that has not been delivered for inspection stating date and time of catch or processing (article 81 of the Regulations).

Fishing vessels intending to land their catch in Ghana must submit a “request to land” application to the Commission 48 hours before the landing, undergo an on-the-spot inspection and obtain clearance to land (articles 24V et seq. of the 2010 Regulations, as amended in 2014). Landed fish intended for export is subject to catch certification (article 24Z of the amended regulations). All catch certificate documentation must be kept readily available (article 24BB of the amended regulations). Authorized officers granting a catch certificate contrary to the requirements established in the regulations are subject to disciplinary action (article 24DD of the amended regulations).

The 1963 Wholesale Fish Marketing Act establishes the authorised fish marketing zones. The Act provides that fish landed in a fish marketing zone shall only be offered for sale or sold in the wholesale fish market designated by the Minister for that zone. The Minister may grant an exception if the fish is landed to be despatched to a cannery or other fish processing factory or if the fish has been frozen and packed on board the vessel in order to be despatched to a cold store outside the zone for distribution (article 2 of the 1963 Act). Ministerial regulations may be adopted under the Act to provide for the establishment, organisation, management and operation of wholesale markets (article 3 of the 1963 Act).

In summary, the following laws and regulations are relevant to the fisheries sector of Ghana:

• Wholesale Fish Marketing Act (1963) • Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority Act (1986) • Fisheries Law (1991) repealed by Fisheries Act (2002) except for Part 1 • Fisheries Act (n. 625 of 2002) • Fisheries (Amendment) Act (n. 880 of 2014) • Ghana Maritime Authority Act (2002) – Register of vessels • Ghana Shipping Act (2003) – Register of vessels • Fisheries Regulations (LI 1968 of 2010) • Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations (LI 2217 of 2015)

4.2.4 Management plans and measures

The 2002 Fisheries Act, as amended by the 2014 Fisheries (Amendment) Act, (Act 880) provides for the adoption of fisheries management plans based on international sustainability principles and approaches. Fisheries management plans shall be based on the best scientific information available, ensure the optimum utilisation of fishery resources while avoiding overexploitation and be consistent with good management principles (article 42). They shall also take into account biological, economic, environmental and social factors, including inter-relations with other species in the ecosystem (article 43). The FC, established under the Act, shall engage in consultation will all relevant stakeholders during the preparation of each plan, including with

82 The 1952 Animals (Control of Importation) Act is not applicable to aquatic animals.


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neighbouring States for shared stocks, and ensure that their implementation is carried out in collaboration with relevant State agencies (articles 42, 44 and 45). A five-year sustainable fisheries management plan (which could include tuna) was adopted in November 201583 for the coastal fisheries sector and is being implemented with support from the Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP).

The Act provides for a number of conservation and management measures, including spatial and temporal controls, protected species and authorised fishing gear. It establishes an inshore exclusive zone reserved for small semi-industrial vessels, canoes and recreational fishing vessels, where large semi-industrial vessels may be exceptionally permitted to enter for the capture of cephalopods in certain periods (article 81). Furthermore, the Minister may establish marine reserves where fishing is prohibited (article 91). The FC may declare closed seasons for fishing in specified areas, and closed seasons declared by an international body of which Ghana is a member shall be regarded as a closed seasons (article 84). In October 2015, the Minister invoked this article and announced the introduction of seasonal closures for fishing starting in 2016; she announced that there will be two to three months closure for industrial fishing vessels and trawlers while canoe and artisanal fishers would be required to add an additional day of closure to their activities84. With regard to protected species, it is prohibited to target marine mammals, gravid lobsters, crustaceans or juvenile fish, and if caught accidentally they must be immediately returned to the sea (articles 89 and 90). Minimum landing sizes of commercially important fish species are established in the Schedule to the 2010 Fisheries Regulations. The Director of Fisheries may exceptionally authorise in writing the capture of marine mammals (article 90 of the law, and article 17 of the regulations). Marine turtles are also protected under the 2010 Regulations through the prohibition of using a shrimp net without a turtle excluder device (article 16 of the Regulations).

The authorised type, size and use of fishing gear are defined in the 2010 Regulations, in accordance with article 85 of the Act (articles 6 to 16 of the regulations). Use of fishing vessels to engage in or assist any driftnet fishing activity is prohibited, as well as the uses of explosives and noxious substances (articles 87 and 88 of the act). The use of FADs in tuna fisheries should conform to ICCAT Resolutions (article 21 of the Fisheries Regulations). Regulations may also be adopted under the Act to establish other conservation and management measures, including TAC and quotas, and to provide on other issues relevant to fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) (article 139 as amended by the 2014 Fisheries (Amendment Act)). In addition, a list of international fisheries conservation and management measures binding on Ghana shall be published by ministerial notice in the Gazette (article 45A, introduced by the 2014 Fisheries (Amendment) Act).

4.2.5 National marine protected areas

According to a 2010 assessment of parks, reserves and protected areas in Ghana made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there were no marine protected areas (MPA) at that time85. More recently, initiatives aimed at the establishment of MPAs included the Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance (ICFG) project completed in 2014, which quantitatively assessed the status of the marine and coastal ecosystems of Ghana’s Western region, putting into place the protocols towards Ghana’s first MPA86. It also provided for the availability of ecological and biological data as a pre-requisite for identifying priority areas for protection within the proposed MPA, as well as providing technical guidance in the establishment of long-term fisheries and socioeconomic monitoring programmes to support MPA zoning and adaptive management. Work towards achieving the establishment of an MPA is still on-going through the Hen Mpoano initiative and the SFMP (2014-2019) which is consolidating the gains made by the ICFG.

83 http://www.ghananewsagency.org/science/ghana-develops-marine-fisheries-management-plan--96665 [accessed 2016, May 27] 84 Article: http://www.stopillegalfishing.com/news_article.php?ID=1714 [accessed 2016, May 27] 85 UICN/PACO 2010. Parks and reserves of Ghana: Management effectiveness assessment of protected areas. Ouagadougou, BF: UICN/PACO. Found at: https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/edocs/2010-073.pdf 86 Ateweberhan, M., Gough, C., Fennelly, L., and Frejaville, Y. (2012). Nearshore Rocky Reefs of Western Ghana, West Africa: Baseline ecological research surveys. Blue Ventures Conservation, London, United Kingdom. 104 pp. Found at :https://blueventures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/nearshore-rocky-reefs-western-ghana-survey.pdf [ accessed 2016, May 19]


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4.2.6 Fisheries agreements and arrangements

Tuna fishing is the only fishery that allows foreign participation through joint venture, when the fishing company is registered in Ghana and at least 50 % of the shares in the tuna fishing vessel are beneficially owned or controlled by a citizen or company of Ghana, or the government. However, under Sections 63 and 64 of the Fisheries Act, the Minister responsible for fisheries may, upon advice of the FC, grant access outside of this requirement. It is under this ‘exemption’ that the EU purse seine vessels currently fish within the Ghana EEZ and have been permitted to do so since 2007. A possible SFPA between the EU and Ghana would fall under the same exemption.

4.3 Organisation of the institutional framework for fisheries

4.3.1 Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Fisheries Commission

Politically, the Ministry is headed by a Minister and assisted by a Deputy Minister. There is a Chief Director, who is the administrative head, supported by four Directors who are responsible for the four line directorates namely: Finance and Administration Directorate; Human Resource Development Directorate; Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate; and Research, Statistics, Public Relation and Information Directorate.

The 2002 Fisheries Act establishes a FC for the regulation and management of fisheries resources use and for policy coordination (article 2)87. The FC is the implementing wing of the Ministry, reporting to the Minister responsible for fisheries (article 3). The FC has its national headquarters in Accra, 10 regional offices and 62 zonal offices. The FC has an advisory Board made up of 11 members selected from organisations that have dealings with the sector as stipulated by the Fisheries Act. Under the Board is a technical Secretariat headed by a Director of the FC. There are five operational divisions and units of the technical Secretariat namely: Fisheries Scientific Survey Division (FSSD); Inland Fisheries Division; Marine Fisheries Division; Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Division (MCSD); Finance and Administration Division. There are also four units under the FC, these are: Fish Health Unit; Monitoring and Evaluation Unit; Procurement Unit; and the Post-Harvest Unit88.

Out of 350 staff of the FC, 47.7% are in the senior category while the rest are in the junior category. Of the 350 staff, 254 are males.

4.3.2 Fisheries budget

MOFAD’s budgetary allocation is made up of four funding sources; the GoG, internally-generated funds, annual budgetary fund allocation and developmental partners. Table 4.1 shows the financial performance of MOFAD for 2013 and 2014 in EUR. The total approved budget for 2014 was GHS 128 615 836 or EUR 32 647 756. This was an increase of 166.64 % over the total allocation for 2013 and was mainly due to the introduction of annual budgetary fund allocation contribution.

The allocations covered the three main expenditure items of compensation of employees, goods and services and assets as detailed in Table 4.1. Note that the annual budgetary funds allocation was mainly for development of landing sites (EUR 20 114 270) and aquaculture development (EUR1 269 197). For 2014, 6 % was allocated for compensation of employees, 10 % for goods and services and 84 % for assets respectively.

Total expenditure for 2014 was much lower than the allocation at EUR 8 516 733, the actual expenditure forms 26.09 % of the approved budget. MOFAD generated revenue amounting to EUR 2 291 229 for 2014. This revenue amount is approximately 36 % more than the projected amount, and 91.53 % of this amount was spent. Of the budgeted sum for goods and services only 21.64 % of the approved budget was spent while of the budgeted figure for the annual budgetary fund allocation only 0.91 % was released and expended as payments for works done on the ongoing Fisheries College at Anomabo in the Central Region. 87 All articles cited in this section refer to the 2002 Ghanaian Fisheries Law, as amended, unless indicated otherwise. 88 2013 MOFAD Annual Performance Audit


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Table 4.1: summary of MOFADs allocations, releases and actual expenditure 2013 to 2014 (EUR)

No Expenditure item Funding source

2013 2014

Approved budgetary allocation

Amount released

Amount expended

Approved budgetary allocation

Amount released

Amount expended

1 Compensation of Employees

1 953 049 1 141 655 1 141 655 2 030 715 1 123 443 1 234 443

2 Goods & Services

Government of Ghana 683 567 151 903 151 903 415 730 125 966 89 960

Internally Generated Funds

3 463 388 2 787 000 2 011 368 1 681 498 2 291 229 2 097 208

Developmental Partners - - - 1 142 668 2 254 363 2 254 363

Sub-total

4 146 955 2 938 904 2 163 271 3 239 869 4 671 558 4 441 531

3 Assets

Government of Ghana 3 906 097 410 488 410 488 1 423 006 60 780 60 780

Developmental Partners 8 835 444 4 790 843 4 790 843 4 570 673 2 696 851 2 696 851

Annual Budgetary Fund Allocation

- - - 21 383 467 194 129 194 129

Sub-total

12 741 541 5 201 331 5 201 331 27 377 146 2 951 759 2 951 759

Total EUR

18 841 545 9 281 889 8 506 257 32 647 756 8 746 760 8 516 733

Source: MOFAD

The 2014 approved budget and actual expenditure is provided by the five main programme areas of MOFAD (see Table 4.2), this excludes the salary compensation figure of EUR 2 030 715 (GHS 8 million). The total expenditure was approximately 26 % of the approved budget for MOFAD including the FC. Actual expenditure for Programme 4 exceeded its approved budget for the period by 58.7 %. This was due to the intense effort MOFAD devoted to combating IUU fishing. The low expenditure under Programme 2 was as a result of the non-implementation of the development of the landing beaches as proposed in the 2014 budget. This contributed 85.0 % of the total allocation for the programme.


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Table 4.2: funds allocation and expenditure according to programmes 2014 (GHS and EUR)

No. Programme Approved budget Actual expenditure Programme expenditure/total actual expenditure %

GHS

P1 Management & administration

14 656 815 7 338 368 25.2

P2 Fisheries resource management

93 210 710 7 605 038 26.1

P3 Aquaculture development

6 206 369 1 669 462 5.7

P4 Monitoring, control & surveillance

4 327 299 10 469 604 35.9

P5

Aquatic animal health & post-harvest management

2 214 645 2 043 934 7.0

Total 120 615 838 29 125 866 100.0

No. Programme Approved budget Actual expenditure Programme expenditure/total

actual expenditure % EUR

P1 Management & administration

3 720 476 1 862 766 25.2

P2 Fisheries resource management 23 660 543 1 930 458 26.1

P3 Aquaculture development

1 575 420 423 775 5.7

P4 Monitoring, control & surveillance

1 098 436 2 657 597 35.9

P5

Aquatic animal health & post-harvest management

562 164 518 694 7.0

Total 30 617 042 7 393 290 100.0

4.3.3 Fishery sector stakeholders

In its daily operations, the MOFAD/FC has a very wide range of inter-institutional linkages (see Annex K). A Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MFAC) was inaugurated in September 2015 in order to formalise and improve the cooperation with these stakeholders, briefly listed in the penultimate sentence of this paragraph. The responsibilities and objectives of the MFAC include advising FC on matters relating to implementation challenges with existing laws and regulations and recommending research priorities, and advising the FC on matters emanating from relevant scientific research on marine resources that are within the mandates of the MOFAD and the FC.

Other responsibilities include promoting inter-sectoral management of marine resources and information sharing and, where appropriate, coordinating decisions to feed into broader FC’s decision making. This recommending priorities and programmes to meet the needs of fishermen and other industries that utilise marine resources and advising on enforcement and implementation of fishery management plans and other strategic programmes for the marine fisheries sector. The MFAC includes representatives from other key sector institutions such as the marine regulatory agencies, commercial fisheries and fishing associations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the academia and the oil and gas industry. The formation of the MFAC demonstrates the FC’s intention to engage more with the industry and other players, a fact that was reported by industry representatives and NGOs, although several noted that they would like to see this improvement in transparency and engagement strengthen further.


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Another example of the Ministry making practical steps to improve consultation was the invitation they sent to industry and civil society to attend the presentation of the preliminary results from the FAO R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen survey in April 2016. At this meeting government, industry and civil society representatives were actively engaged in discussions with the scientists from the Institute of Marine Research from Norway and those from the FC in Ghana.

4.4 Science and research capacity

The FSSD is based at Tema in the FC offices. Their objective is to provide sound advice for fisheries management based on research and development. The research agenda is focused on generating scientific data on the oceanographic, environmental and biological parameters from the fisheries and ocean to inform evidence-based decision making in the sector. The Division aims to provide information on maximum allowable fish catches for the various fish species caught that will enable the resources to regenerate over time. During interviews with scientists it was reported that this is challenging due to limited capacity and because Ghana does not have a research vessel. The system used to estimate catches is based on information collected from catch returns from canoes at 50 sampling sites, catch records from the industrial and semi-industrial sub-sectors, and the catch production estimates that these sub-sectors produce. This system appeared somewhat unreliable as often limited capacity meant that information was not collected or compiled.

The Division has four main functional areas:

• Environment: responsible for the collection of data on temperature, water quality, salinity, etc.;

• Fish stocks: responsible for conducting indirect assessments (i.e. production models) based on landings and size data, as Ghana does not have a research vessel;

• Gear: responsible to research into gear technology and gear use; and

• Statistics: to compile and analyse the data generated by the fisheries.

The Division, which has a total of 12 professional staff, collates the data from the zonal and regional offices in its database in Tema and produces a range of data outputs (e.g. annual fisheries statistics) and some limited policy advice (for marine fisheries only). The Division is also responsible for the provision of data to ICCAT and other regional bodies based on international commitments. From 1 to 20 April 2016 a new biomass and swept area survey to estimate the size of the fish stocks took place with the FAO R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen with nine Ghanaian scientists on board. Provisional findings suggest that that there were some increases in biomass estimates, especially for the carangids that produced the highest estimate in the time series for Ghana. This was the first stock assessment undertaken since the last survey of the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen in 2007.

4.5 Monitoring, control and surveillance

4.5.1 Legal basis for MCS

The fisheries MCS unit, known as the Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU), is legally empowered under the 2002 Fisheries Act and it includes personnel from the Ghana Navy, Ghana Air Force and the Secretariat of the FC. The Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) is located in Tema.

The Act also empowers officers for the enforcement of fisheries legislation. These officers may be drawn from: personnel of the FEU; personnel of the Ghana Navy; the air crew and personnel of the Ghana Air Force deployed for fishery duties; officers of the Water Research Institute; and fishery officers of the Secretariat of the FC. In addition, the Minister may appoint members of the public as FEU enforcement officers. The Minister may also appoint Fisheries Protection Officers or Surveillance Officers as inspectors who may board a fishing vessel found within Ghanaian waters for inspection, while Observers have the mandate to report violations of the fisheries legislation.


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Enforcement officers have the power to stop, board and search any vessel operating in Ghanaian waters and any Ghanaian vessel operating outside national waters; they may request information from the crew, require documentation to be produced and take copies, examine catch and fishing gear, test satellite devices. If the officers have reasonable grounds to believe an offence is being or has been committed, they may also take samples of fish found in the inspected vessel, vehicle, aircraft or premises, seize the vessel, fish or fish products, fishing gear, documents and other items that may be used as evidence, and arrest the person they believe has committed an offence. Authorised officers have the same powers beyond Ghanaian waters when following a vessel in hot pursuit.

The potential sanctions for violation of the fisheries legal framework are considered to be suitable for the violations infringed. They are the strictest sanctions in the region, a comparison of the sanctions set by Ghana and other FCWC countries for violations of fisheries legislation are provided in Annex J.

4.5.2 The MCS system

The MCS system includes various operations undertaken to enhance compliance such as: enforcement patrols, quayside inspections, beach-combing exercises, inspection of vessels for license renewal and monitoring of fish imports to ensure that IUU fisheries products are not imported into Ghana. A national plan of action (NPOA) on IUU fishing exists and provides a comprehensive plan of action and identifies existing gaps in relation to combating IUU fishing.

In the FMC at Tema there are 12 MCS officers from MOFAD and 18 other officers from different divisions forming the 30-strong FEU. At Takoradi there are five MCS officers from MOFAD and in total 22 members of FEU.

4.5.2.1 Vessel monitoring and automatic identification systems

Vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) are mandatory for local industrial and semi-industrial vessels and foreign vessels: this has been the case since 2012 for tuna vessels and 2014 for trawlers. The FEU has electronic monitoring equipment in the FMC at Tema which functions 24/7; they also have very high frequency (VHF) and high frequency (HF) radio equipment. VMS and automatic identification system (AIS) transponders have recently been installed on all active Ghana-flagged vessels (33 tuna vessels, 86 trawler vessels (mixed species), 2 carrier vessels and 1 supply vessel). All fishing vessels required to operate with VMS are also required to keep a fishing logbook although this was not confirmed to be the practice for semi-industrial vessels. The FMC is equipped with a 150kV power backup supplied through West Africa Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP) funding to ensure continuous power supply.

The VMS appears to be functioning and it is reported to have facilitated the tracking and subsequent release of the tuna fishing vessel, Marine 711, which was hijacked from Ghana to Nigerian waters. In 2015 the VMS facilitated the detection and arrest of 55 vessels for committing various fisheries infractions such as fishing in the Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) and fishing along the gas pipeline.

4.5.2.2 Observers

In July 2015, an at-sea fisheries Observer programme started and there are 70 trained observers, 40 of which are government employees. The Observers are currently utilised only on the national tuna fleet with 100 % coverage. Observers: collect catch and effort data, take samples of fish for scientific purposes and report violations of the Act and implementing Regulations.

4.5.2.3 Cameras on fishing vessel

Ghana is running a pilot project with the FAO Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) funded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that provides for the installation of electronic monitoring systems (EMS) on board tuna purse seiners. The project has tested the use of close circuit TV cameras on five Ghanaian vessels from three companies for five months (in April 2016). Both the government and industry reported favourably about the


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pilot and had found the observations useful. The recordings are sent in real time to the FMC in Tema and they are also analysed in Spain providing both the companies and the authorities with a full audit of the recordings.

4.5.2.4 Sea patrols

The FEU embarked on 442 hours of sea patrols using Ghana Navy vessels in 2014. They conducted 65 boarding and inspections on industrial vessels and canoes and made 30 arrests. Unauthorised gear such as generators and 140 lighting equipment were seized from fishermen during the patrols. In 2015 (see Figure 4.1) the greatest number of boardings occurred in October and November, with more than 20 boardings each month. There were more than five arrests in October and more than 10 in November. Trawlers’ violations were significantly higher in 2014 and 2015 with more than 25 violations each year compared to less than five in 2013. This same trend was reflected in the number of fines issued from 2013 to 2015. This is reportedly due to the improved legal framework and implementation of the framework by the FEU.

Figure 4.1: boardings, arrests and patrols made by the FEU in 2015

Source: MOFAD FEU

Land patrols

Land patrols of both inland and marine areas totalled 176 hours in 2014 and covered 42 communities within the Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions. This resulted in the seizure of 93 generators and 1 165 monofilament nets. In addition 175 hours of beach combing took place in 2014 to search and gather intelligence on illegal fishing activities in 40 coastal and four inland communities. The use of illegal fishing gear, 'unorthodox' fishing methods (as termed by Ghanaian authorities) and activities were reported to be rampant, especially among the canoe and semi-industrial fleets. The SFMP donated four vehicles valued at about USD 140 000 to the FEU in May 2016 to help in the conducting of land patrols89.

4.5.2.5 Port/quayside inspections

The 2014 Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations includes a number of port State measures, including port designation for foreign vessels, 48-hour notice of port use, and denial of port entry or use and port inspection. Port or quayside inspections are now regularly conducted by personnel of the FMC and FEU at the Tema and Takoradi harbours. In 2015, 657 inspections on trawlers, 154 on tuna vessels and 186 on reefers/carriers importing fish took place. The inspections assessed compliance with safety certificates, competency of crew, fishing logbooks, fishing licenses, fishing gears and other relevant documents. Carrying of illegal fishing nets

89 https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2016/05/11/usaid-donates-vehicles-to-fisheries-enforcement-unit/ [2016, May 16]

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and improper filling of fishing log books were some of the fisheries infractions detected during the inspections. The MCS officers report that they have had basic training in inspections and are getting assistance in intelligence and also operational support from the West Africa Task Force (WATF) that is assisting in port inspections.

4.5.2.6 Inspection of fish imports

Inspection of fish imports are conducted to examine fish import permits issued by MOFAD; the Customs Declaration form and the Bill of Laden to verify if the volume of fish imported matches that declared. In 2014, 153 inspections were conducted on fish imports to 27 companies.

4.5.3 Key IUU fishing risks and incidence

In 2014, 150 arrests involving artisanal canoes and industrial trawlers were made during quayside inspections, patrols on land and sea and though detection using VMS. Fifty two individuals were either prosecuted (April 2016) in the Law Courts or had penalties settled out-of-court by the Fisheries Settlement Committees in Takoradi and Tema. Fines were issued to 25 canoe owners (GHS 48 550), and 26 trawlers (GHS 3 080 369), GHS 2 418 749 of this was paid into the Fisheries Development Fund (FDF). In respect to the tuna vessels the only reported violation in 2015 was in respect to the 100 mm regulation on the purse seine nets.

In a 2016 study undertaken by the FCWC Ghana reported the following as the most commonly incurred violations:

• Fishing without a license/authorisation or with an expired license/authorisation; • Fishing with unauthorised or illegal gear (including small mesh size) or methods; • Fishing in prohibited areas (including in areas reserved to artisanal fisheries); • Use of forged documentation in relation to fishing activities; • Provision of false, inaccurate or incomplete information on catch and fishing activities (with the intent

to deceive); • Illegal transhipment of catch (including by-catch into canoes and sale of fish at sea); • Targeting of unauthorised fish (e.g. below minimum size/immature or valuable by-catch); and • Damage to artisanal gear by industrial fishing vessels or merchant vessels

4.5.4 Piracy

In 2013 Lloyd’s Joint War Committee declared the region between Togo, Benin and Nigeria a ‘war risk’ zone for shipping90. This area is adjacent to Ghana. Maritime security incidents then began to decrease, with 48 incidents reported in 2013 and 41 in 2014 91. The International Chamber of Commerce and International Maritime Bureau (IMB) maintains a ‘live’ map of reported incidences (see Figure 4.2 for reported incidents in 2016) of all piracy and armed robbery incidents in the West Africa region.

90 See Joint War Committee, ‘Hull war, piracy, terrorism, and related perils: Listed areas’, 12 June 2013, , [2016, May 17] 91 ICC & IMB, ‘Piracy and armed robbery against ships: Report for the period of 1 January–31 December 2013’, 2014; ICC the period of 1 January–31 December 2014’, 2015.& IMB, ‘Piracy and armed robbery against ships [2016, May 18]


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Figure 4.2: reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery in West Africa in 2016

Source: IMB Piracy & Armed Robbery Map 2016

Regional cooperation was reinforced in June 2013 when the heads of state and government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), ECOWAS and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) held a summit on ‘Maritime Security and Safety in the Gulf of Guinea’ in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This summit was central in developing a regional response to maritime security concerns in the Gulf of Guinea, and produced a declaration on maritime security, a memorandum of understanding and a code of conduct. The Declaration, known as the Yaoundé Declaration, committed the signatories to promote peace, security and stability within the Gulf of Guinea maritime area through mobilising sufficient operational resources. It further called on ECCAS, ECOWAS and the GGC to encourage activities aimed at co-operation and co-ordination, and to share resources among members while continuing to co-operate with international strategic partners. Ghana responded by forming a maritime police unit within the police service to tackle this type of threat and making the six seagoing Navy vessels and four small class boats available to assist.

In March 2015 the Council of the EU adopted the Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015–202092, which outlines the EU’s approach to helping the region combat maritime insecurity. This plan intends to provide support at both the regional and the national level towards the ongoing efforts of ECOWAS, ECCAS, the GGC and all signatories of the Yaoundé Declaration. The EU envisages that the implementation of this plan will reinforce intraregional co-operation and increase the level of co-ordination among the EU, its member states and international partners.

4.5.5 International cooperation in fighting IUU fishing

Following the recent lifting of the yellow card in respect to the EU IUU fishing regulation, the EU and Ghana are continuing a dialogue on IUU fishing issues. The establishment of a Joint Working Group on IUU fishing issues enables and facilitates this dialogue. This is reinforced by Ghana’s improved legal framework (see above) and the inclusion of regulations that authorise the cooperation and exchange of information, including inspection results with other States and RFMOs. The FC shall also cooperate with foreign States and RFMOs in the investigation of alleged IUU fishing activities carried out by Ghanaian vessels. As mentioned above, Ghana is active in the WATF of FCWC and the second Task Force meeting was hosted by Ghana in April

92 Council of the European Union, ‘Council conclusions on the Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015–2020’, 16 March 2015, www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/fac/2015/03/st07168_en15_pdf/, [2016, May 17]


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2016, where it was agreed that the six countries will share the lists of which fishing vessels they have licenced to fish in their EEZ93.

4.6 Catch certification

The EU adopted EC Regulation 1005/2008 to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing on 29 September 2008. The regulation, which came into force on 1 January 2010, requires that all imports and landings into the EU of fish and fish products require a catch certificate. The catch certificates must be validated by the flag State of the fishing vessel or fishing vessels that made the catches. The acceptance of catch certificates validated by a given flag State is subject to the condition that the EC has received a notification from the flag State concerned. With such a notification a flag State certifies that: a) it has in place national arrangements for the implementation, control and enforcement of laws, regulations and conservation and management measures that must be complied with by its fishing vessels; and b) its public authorities are empowered to attest the veracity of the information contained in catch certificates and to carry out verifications of such certificates on request from the Member States94.

The FC is the Competent Authority of Ghana and is empowered to issue an authorisation for export, there is a catch certificate and permit unit with two people that deal with catch certificates. They process over 1 000 catch certificates per year, currently in hard copy format but they are prepared and willing to move to an electronic system if this was available to them. They work closely with the MCS officers and in particular they utilise the reports generated from the VMS to improve their ability to cross check the catches before issuing a catch certification for fish export to the EU.

In November 2013 Ghana was informed of its pre-identification as a non-cooperating country or ‘yellow-carded’ based on information gathered by the EC for not being able to certify to the criteria stated above in respect to its position as a port, coastal, flag and market state. Over the next two years it went through a set of major reforms to improve its legal and policy framework and the enforcement and implementation of these and it has now had the yellow-card removed.

93 http://www.stopillegalfishing.com/sifnews_article.php?ID=187 [2016, May 22] 94 See Article 20 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008.


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5 Fisheries in Ghana

5.1 Inland fisheries and aquaculture

5.1.1 Inland fisheries

The inland fisheries comprise inland capture, culture (aquaculture) and culture-based fisheries. The Volta Lake, lagoons, reservoirs, irrigation dams and dugouts as well as other inland water bodies are the main sources of inland capture fisheries production. The Lake Volta, has a surface area of 8 480 km² and 5 200 km shoreline, it contributes about 90 % of the total inland fishery production and it forms the backbone of the entire inland capture fisheries. In 2014, an estimated 85 383 t of fish was produced from inland fisheries, although this is considered to be a gross underestimation as many areas are either not or poorly monitored.

5.1.2 Aquaculture

Culture fisheries, which include farming or growing fish in ponds, tanks and cages, contribute about 9 % of total fish production for Ghana according to MOFAD. A total of 38 535 t of finfish and 12 t of shrimps were produced in 2014, an 18.5 % increase from 2013. Increasing aquaculture production is a priority for the government and the focus is on commercial aquaculture and linkages of fish farmers to markets. The long term view is that aquaculture will play a key role in filling the growing gap between demand and supply from capture fisheries.

5.2 Marine fisheries

The figures provided in Table 5.1 are compiled from the MOFAD database, based on sampling programmes and logbooks provided to MOFAD and analysed by the scientists at Tema. Using 2014 figures (last consolidated data), it can be seen that the artisanal sector formed 61 %, the inshore sector 2 %, the industrial 11 % and the tuna 26 % of the total catches. It is considered likely that the tuna catches may include catches by Ghanaian flagged vessels fishing outside of the Ghanaian EEZ; this was not confirmed by the authorities but is considered possible as the system for reporting has limited cross-checking.

Table 5.1: marine fish production in Ghana EEZ from 2008 to 2015 (t)

Fleet 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Artisanal 254 133 226 755 198 152 196 200 213 451 202 602 179 686 223 774

Inshore 10 009 6 140 12 048 9 399 9 574 10 482 7 255 6 679

Industrial 18 289 20 837 19 673 19 597 19 763 19 407 31 562 19 560

Tuna 64 000 66 470 77 876 80 823 90 000 82 899 76 844 62 521

Total 346 431 320 202 307 749 306 019 332 788 315 390 295 347 312 535

Source: MOFAD Note: figures for 2015 are preliminary

5.2.1 Artisanal and inshore fisheries

The artisanal fishery is formed from canoes that are planked, dugout or fabricated and are be propelled by means of sails, oars, paddles, poles, outboard engines or sometimes a combination of these legal lines to fish and often illegal gears such as mid-water driftnets . The inshore fishery consists of small purse seine and trawler vessels that are sometimes also called referred to as semi-industrial. These vessels and canoes should are required to be registered by the District Assembly of the area where they are operated, and then they should obtain a fishing license.

The MOFAD/FC collect catch information from a sampling programme under the categories of canoes, purse seine and trawler. The species reported to be caught include sardinellas, mackerel, anchovy, seabreams, and burrito for the canoes; sardinellas, mackerel and others for purse seine; and sea breams cassava fish, burrito,


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mullet and cuttlefish for trawlers. They do not report any landings of tunas, billfishes or sharks. However, from interviews with fishers it was reported that on the continental shelf the canoes do catch tuna, billfish (marlins & sailfishes) and sharks although it appears that catches from these fisheries remain unknown.

5.2.2 Industrial marine catching sector

There are Ghanaian trawlers, Ghanaian pole and line vessels, and Ghanaian and foreign purse seiners95 targeting tuna. Historically there were also Ghanaian shrimpers, but these have not fished since 2011.

5.2.2.1 Fishing authorisations

Table 5.2 provides the total number of industrial vessels licenced to fish within Ghanaian waters from 2011 to 2015. Table 5.3 provides the number of foreign fishing vessels licenced to fish within the Ghanaian EEZ, these are all tuna purse seine vessels (see Section 4.2.6) that have been permitted to fish in Ghana since 2007 according to the GoG. This opening up of the tuna fishery to allow foreign vessels was reported to increase a secure supply of larger tuna to the canneries, as the foreign vessels tended to fish more on free schools than the Ghanaian vessels, and were able to supply larger yellowfin tuna to the canneries.

Information provided by the French ship owners confirms that there are nine French purse seiners active in Ghana while the Spanish ship owners association ANABAC reported a few Spanish vessels with licences to fish in the Ghana EEZ. The MOFAD reported a total of nine French and four Spanish vessels with licences in 2015 to fish in the Ghana EEZ. There are in addition five vessels registered to third countries (Belize, Cape Verde and Curacao) as well as some of the Ghanaian tuna vessels that have partial or full EU ownership.

Table 5.2: total number of industrial fishing vessels authorised to fish in Ghana EEZ 2011 to 2015

Vessels 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Trawlers 81 87 89 103 93

Tuna vessels 43 40 47 55 44

Shrimpers 2 0 0 0 0

Carriers 2 2 2 2 3

Total 128 129 138 160 140 Source: MOFAD

Table 5.3: foreign industrial fishing vessels authorised to fish in Ghanaian waters (2010 – 2015)

Flag State 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

French 4 5 4 5 9 9

Spanish 5 - - - 1 4

Belize - 4 4 4 2 2

Cape Verde - - - 2 1 2

Curacao - - - - - 1

Total 9 9 8 11 13 18 Source: MOFAD

The current licence fees applied to foreign and local vessels were set in December 2002 by the Minister of State for Fisheries and are currently under review for updating (see Table 5.4 for the current and proposed 95 Act 625, the Fisheries Act, Art140, gives the following definitions: An industrial fishing vessel is a motorized vessel equipped with equipment and using industrial gears; A semi-industrial fishing vessel is a motorized vessel powered by an inboard engine, divided into large (>10m) and small <10m); A canoe is any planked, dugout or fabricated vessel which is propelled by means of sails, oars, paddles,poles, outboard engine or a combination of any of them. There is no definition of “artisanal fishing vessel”


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figures). The foreign vessels pay application and processing fees of USD 5 000 and USD 10 000 respectively in addition to the licence fees. Based on the details of vessels provided by the French vessel owners, this suggests that the EU purse seiners are paying approximately between USD/EUR 45 000 and USD/EUR 110 000 per year for their access to fish (including the application and processing fees) in the Ghanaian EEZ depending on the GRT of the vessel. Table 5.5 provides the overall income in GHS and EUR for the GoG from 2011 to 2015. The cost of licences for the EU vessels was not provided separately. As a full list of EU vessel names was not available, the exact contribution made to the GoG by EU vessel owners is uncertain. However, if an average price of EUR 75 000 per licence is used this would amount to approximately one million EUR paid for licence fees by EU vessel owners. However, as the total revenue for tuna vessels (including local vessels) was EUR 1 196 061 in 2015, it suggests that the EU vessels may only be buying licences on a quarterly basis.

Table 5.4: existing and proposed licence fees for access to the Ghanaian EEZ

Vessel Type

Existing license fee (USD/GRT/annum) by type and size of vessel (between brackets: vessel's GT category)

Proposed new license fee by Fisheries Commission (USD/GRT/annum)

Tuna ( pole & line) foreign

25 (≤500) 159.49

47 (˃500) Tuna ( purse seine) foreign

30 (≤1000) 159.49

55 (˃1000) Tuna ( pole & line) local

25 (≤500) 50 (≤500) 47 (˃500) 80 (˃500)

Tuna ( purse seine) local

30 (≤1000) 55 (≤1000) 55 (˃1000) 100 (˃1000)

Trawlers 30 (≤300) 55 (≤300) 55 (˃300) 100 (˃300)

Shrimpers 40 (≤200) 70 (≤200) 75 (˃200) 130 (˃200)

Source: MOFAD

Table 5.5: licence fees collected by year for fishing authorisations 2011 to 2015

Type of Vessel 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GHS

Trawlers 538 314 614 196 845 794 1 136 063 1 749 946

Tuna vessels 1 620 284 1 893 398 2 350 050 2 921 996 5 189 587

Shrimpers 22 589 0 0 0 0

Carriers 83 175 88 720 110 900 121 990 243 384

Total 2 264 362 2 596 314 3 306 744 4 180 048 7 182 917

EUR 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Trawlers 251 114 264 034 330 375 288 377 403 316

Tuna vessels 755 835 813 945 917 952 741 717 1 196 061

Shrimpers 10 537 0 0 0 0

Carriers 38 800 38139 43 319 30 966 56 093

Total 1 056 287 1 116 118 1 291 646 1 061 061 1 655 470

Source: MOFAD

It is somewhat unclear why the income has increased considerably over the last five years from tuna vessels from EUR 755 835 in 2011 to EUR 1 196 061 in 2015 as the number of vessels licenced has not changed considerably over this period. It may be possible that the proportions of different types of vessels (pole and line or purse seiners) has varied, that the size (GRT) has increased considerably, or that some vessels did not previously buy licences for a full year but for a shorter period and that now it is more common to buy licences


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for the full year96. It is also noteworthy that the number of foreign flagged vessels has doubled in this period from nine to eighteen, which may in part explain the increase in income.

5.2.3 Tuna industrial catching sector

The MOFAD/FC reported total catches of tuna from all industrial vessels (purse seiners and pole and line vessels) as provided in Table 5.6, with the latest final figure being for 2014 at 76 844 t, the species composition of which was 67 % skipjack, 25 % yellowfin, 6 % bigeye and 3 % others. It was not confirmed, but considered likely that these figures do not include tuna caught by foreign flagged vessels within the Ghana EEZ, but may include catches by national vessels outside of the Ghana EEZ.

Table 5.6: catches of tuna and tuna like species in Ghana EEZ for 2011 to 2015 (t)

Species 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 projection

Yellowfin 14 500 15 772 14 261 19 138 11 615

Bigeye 4 122 4 148 5 013 4 369 5 789

Skipjack 56 500 65 419 58 577 51 315 41 039

Others 5 700 4 661 5 048 2 022 4 078

Total Tuna 80 822 90 000 82 899 76 844 62 521

Source: MOFAD/FC

5.2.3.1 EU purse seiner catches

Information presented in this section has been compiled from the ICCAT database of catches reported by 1º square (see Annex E for methodology). Figure 5.1 shows that from this data the catches by EU purse seiners in the Ghanaian EEZ have reached an average level estimated at 2 900 t in the 2005-2014 period (a minimum of 1 670 t and a maximum of 4 440 t). This average catch of 2 900 t corresponds to 3.1 % of the average total catches by the EU purse seiners during the 2005 to 2014 period (and 7.5 % of the tuna caught in west African EEZs).

The figures also show that there is considerable uncertainty in the estimated yearly catches due to the maximum and minimum estimates over the years and the large differences in these (see Annex E for explanation of how these are calculated).

It also demonstrates that some tuna was reported to have been caught by EU purse seiners in the EEZ each year since 1990, except in 2006. Prior to 2007 licences to fish in the EEZ of Ghana were not available to foreign vessels as the government only started to issue fishing licences to foreign vessels in 2007.

Figures provided to the consultants by the EC indicate that the EU purse seiners fishing in Ghanaian EEZ caught 1 570 t in 2012, 1 946 t in 2013, 3 083 t in 2014 and 1 110 t in 2015. The catches were reported to be predominantly yellowfin.

96 Fishing authorisations are renewable quarterly, bi-annually or annually depending on the validity of the vessel documents, such as insurances as these must be valid for the period the authorisation is issued for.


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Figure 5.1: estimated yearly catches of the EU purse seine fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ

Source: ICCAT database compiled by consultants (see Annex E for methodology)

The analysis of the catches by EU purse seiners by fishing mode and season in the Ghanaian EEZ (see Figure 5.2) shows that tuna catches are predominantly caught by the EU purse seiners on free schools (an average of 65 % of total catches during the last 10 years) and that the seasonality of tuna catches by the EU purse seine fishery in the Ghanaian EEZ is generally showing a peak of catches during the third quarter upwelling season, a period of high biological productivity. This was confirmed by French industry sources.

Figure 5.2: average monthly catches in the Ghanaian EEZ by EU purse seine fleet (2005-2014)


The species composition of the EU purse seine catches in the Ghanaian EEZ are dominated by yellowfin (69 % of total catch), which would be expected as the majority of the catches are on free schools. This is different to the catch composition reported in Table 5.7 from MOFAD, and it suggests that this GoG compiled data may be mainly from the Ghanaian fleet, and it was confirmed by the EU vessel owners that they only submit catch returns or log books to MOFAD/FC if they request these when they are in port offloading, suggesting that the system for collecting and compiling information about the catches of the foreign fleet by the GoG is not robust.


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The French vessel owners provided figures to the consultants that indicated higher catches than those listed in the ICCAT database (Figure 5.1). From 2010 to 2013 six French vessel caught between 1 630 and 2 630 t per year and, in 2014, 8 887 t within the Ghana EEZ: 79 % of this being yellowfin tuna, 15 % skipjack and 6 % bigeye. This would suggest that the catches by the total EU fleet of 13 vessels would have been higher than those indicted in the ICCAT database.

Figure 5.3: average catches by species in the EU purse seine fleet catches in the Ghanaian EEZ


5.2.3.2 EU-owned, third country-registered purse seine fleet catches

Figure 5.4 provides an estimate of the catches reported to ICCAT from EU-owned purse seiners that are registered with flags from a third country (not EU, not Ghana) and fishing in the Ghanaian EEZ. The annual average catches by this fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ have been estimated at 770 t in the 2005-2014 period (a minimum average of 330 t and a maximum average of 1 620 t).

Figure 5.4: estimated catches of the EU-owned foreign-flagged purse seine fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ



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5.2.3.3 Ghana registered purse seine and pole and line catches

The Ghanaian registered, Tema-based, fleet of pole and line and purse seine vessels are quite difficult to estimate as the statistics of this fleet are poorly documented in the ICCAT database. From the Ghanaian data available, estimates of catches have been made (see Figure 5.5) but these are considerably lower than the figures provided by the GoG because the reporting to ICCAT is not good for this sector (see Table 5.6). The average catches from the ICCAT database show that the fleet has been catching an estimated at 12 200 t in the 1996 to 2014 period (a minimum average catch of 8 800 t and a maximum average catch estimated at 14 800 t). The Ghanaian catches show a wide dominance of FAD catches and the species of skipjack (65 % of total average catches). These Ghanaian catches in the Ghana EEZ correspond to an average of 20 % of the Ghanaian average tuna catches reported to ICCAT during the 1996-2014 period.

Figure 5.5: estimated catches by the Ghanaian fleet fishing in the Ghanaian EEZ


5.3 The onshore tuna industry

5.3.1 Ports and infrastructure

Ghanaian-registered tuna fishing vessels (including pole and line and purse seine vessels) are reported to mainly off-load at Tema and for the product to go to one of the two canning factories. However, it was noted that in the past they have had to off-load in Abidjan, in Côte d’Ivoire, either because the queuing times for access to the port could be over two weeks or because they could get a better price in Abidjan. The industry noted that in the last four to five years this has not occurred as the price had been acceptable in Ghana and the port facilities in Tema are adequate. Fishing vessels do however use Abidjan or other ports (including in Europe) for dry-docking as there are limited facilities in Ghana.

Off-loading facilities in Tema and the number of stevedores were reported to be adequate with an average off-loading of 150 to 200 t of tuna per day. Vessel owners reported that although Abidjan is the biggest and most dedicated tuna port in the region Tema’s facilities are adequate in most respects. However, it would be very beneficial if there was a fishery sector strategic plan for industrial development that included the development of a dedicated fishing port. The French vessel owners reported that they used Tema, Abidjan and European ports to offload their catches, while the Spanish reported using Tema, Abidjan, Dakar in Senegal and Mindelo in Cape Verde.


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5.3.2 Fish processing, distribution markets and trade

Ghana exports high valued fish such as frozen tuna, tuna loins and canned tuna loins and other assorted demersal species (such as cuttlefish, crabs and lobsters). The EU imported on average 30 344 t per year of fish and seafood products from Ghana for the period 2012-2014 valued at EUR 128 885 800. Ninety percent by volume and 91 % by value was made up of tuna products (see Table 5.7), with canned tuna making up 76 % of total fish imports, followed by tuna loins (7.7 %) and frozen tuna (6.92 %), most of which was for processing in the EU. Molluscs are the other significant seafood product being 8.5 % by volume of imports.

There are two canneries for tuna in Ghana: Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), Cosmo Seafoods Company Ltd. PFC is a subsidiary of Thai Union Europe, part of the Thai Union Group, the world’s largest tuna producer, and is a tuna processor and exporter for Thai Union. It produces tuna loins and canned tuna for the Thai Union brands such as StarKist Tuna, John West, and Petit Navire. It produces 40 000 to 45 000 t per year97, a substantial proportion of which it exports to the EU, mainly to the UK, Germany and Italy. They employ 2 000 people plus 300 on the vessels and indirectly another 10 000 in support services for the cannery.

In 2015 PFC obtained 27 000 t of tuna from their fleet of two Belize-registered vessels and four Ghanaian-registered vessels98. Thai Union Europe have a sister company, TTV Ltd, that operates eight purse seine vessels and also supply vessels99. This company has a 50 % shareholding in Ghana as required by GoG law. PFC advised the consultants that they obtain 7 000 to 8 000 t of tuna per year (mostly for canning) from EU purse seiners, mainly French vessels. They also buy and export 4 000 to 5 000 t per year of pole and line fish brought from vessels fishing in Senegal (EU vessels) which is exported to Europe (transported by container from Dakar, which is mostly yellowfin and albacore). The remainder of their raw tuna comes from Ghanaian-registered pole and line and purse seine vessels and in a good year this can be up to 10 000 t of tuna a year.

Table 5.7: EU imports from Ghana of fish and seafood products for 2013 to 2014 Product 2012 2013 2014 Average (of grand total)

t ‘000 EUR t

‘000 EUR t

‘000 EUR t in % of

‘000 EUR in % of

Tuna

Frozen tunas for industry 1,348

2,375

1,205

2,977

2,044

4,420

1,532

5

3,257

3

Frozen tunas not for industry

390

749

319

701

997

2,332

569

2

1,261

1

Canned tuna 26,139

105,470

21,403

98,010

21,515

103,494

23,019

76

102,325

79

Tuna loins 3,226

13,659

2,235

10,716

1,548

8,023

2,336

8

10,799

8

Tuna as a percentage of total fish imports

90

91

Other fish and fish products

Ornamental fish (excl. 0301 11 00), live

1

8

0

4

0

4

0

0

5

0

Other frozen fish and fish products

340

989

224

842

173

654

246

1

829

1

Fish dried, salted, smoked, in brine

29

120

26

78

30

92

28

0

97

0

Crustaceans for human consumption

46

244

16

107

26

243

29

0

198

0

97 Berchie Asiedu et al (2015) (footnote 57) say that the canneries are operating at about 60% of their capacity

98 Thai Union has stated that they will sell this fleet as part of their company strategic planning in the coming years

99 TTV Ltd, the Thai Union Europe subsidiary that operate the boats, have 8 vessels listed on their website: According to the ICCAT vessel list, four are registered in Ghana and two in Belize. The other two are not are not listed in the ICCAT vessel list


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Product 2012 2013 2014 Average (of grand total)

t ‘000 EUR t

‘000 EUR t

‘000 EUR t in % of

‘000 EUR in % of

Molluscs, in all forms for human consumption

2,726

12,901

1,744

5,446

3,269

11,924

2,580

9

10,090

8

Other aquatic invertebrates for human consumption

0

1

1

4

-

0

0

0

2

0

Crustaceans/molluscs/other invertebrates, not human consumption

-

-

4

27

-

-

1

0

9

0

Other prepared fish 10

40

-

0

-

0

3

0

13

0

Other fish and fish products as a percentage of total fish imports

10

9

Grand total 34,254

136,558

27,176

118,913

29,602

131,186

30,344

100

128,886

100

Source: Export Promotion Authority (2015) n.a = not available

PFC sends loins from the larger yellowfin (FAD-free) to sister (Thai Union) factories in Europe (Portugal and France) where they are processed as frozen and pre-cooked loins. They also process Maldivian pole and line tuna for export to Thailand.

Historically PFC brought tuna in containers from the Indian Ocean, normally be in partnership with the factory in Seychelles, where Thai Union has also a processing plant for cans and loins. They did so when there was a demand and the price was right. However they have not done this for the past two years, although they have sent fish to the factory in the Seychelles. Ghana and Seychelles have initialed an Administrative Cooperation Agreement (ACA) at government level for tuna to fulfill the requirements for cumulation with ACP countries laid down under the Economic Partnership Agreements. The ACA has apparently is not yet been signed.

PFC has been the local agent for one French purse seine vessel and in this capacity applied to MOFAD/FC for their private access agreement.

PFC has a fish meal plant and a state-of-the-art water treatment plant to comply with environmental requirements. They collaborate with Ocean Products Ghana (OPG) Limited to process tuna heads (removed prior to pre-cooking) to obtain fish oil as a human dietary supplement. PFC is ISO 14001 (Environmental), ISO 9000 (Quality) and ISO 22000 (Food Safety & HACCP) Certified; and also BRC (UK) and IFS (rest of Europe) Certified, facilitating exports to EU markets.

Cosmo100 Seafoods Company Ltd is the second, smaller producer of canned seafood products, including tuna, sardines, pilchards, mackerel and saury. It was established in Ghana in June 2011 as a joint venture between F.C.F Fisheries Co. Ltd. (Taiwan) and Korea-based Silla Company. It operates under the Ghana Free Zones Enterprise arrangement and supplies products to consumers around the world, but not to European markets.

5.3.2.1 Imports and transit of fish

Fish imports have generally declined from 199 789 t in 2010 to 145 910 t in 2014, while the estimated price per tonne increased from USD 542 (2010) to USD 897 (2013) and dropped to USD 825 in 2014. In 2014, all imported fish was frozen and consisted of horse mackerel, mackerel, sardines and other mixed African species imported by 27 companies through Tema port. The fish originated from Mauritania, Namibia, Spain and Holland.

A reported 18 268 t of frozen fish, consisting of mainly horse mackerel and sardines transited through the country to Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Nigeria in 2014.

100 The names Cosmo and Cosmos are both used


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5.4 Profitability of EU purse seiners

In 2014 a study was undertaken aiming to establish a standard approach to the economic analysis of the EU’s tuna fleets involved in fishing activities governed by RFMOs or SFPAs101. Subsequently, a 2nd phase of the study102 was undertaken; this phase uses data provided by the operators to their national administrations, and made available in aggregated form to the EC by Member States through their Annual Economic Reports. The study attempts to use available data to analyse the performance of the EU’s tropical tuna fleets in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. The study drew attention to the inadequacies of available data, both from the perspective of its detail and the limitations of using aggregated data.

This analysis makes use of the 2nd phase of the study in order to estimate the profitability of EU vessels operating in Ghana’s EEZ, as data from 2014 and 2015 were not yet available. Vessel segmentation is done by Member States on the basis of two categories: vessel length (0-12 m, 12-18 m, 18-24 m, 24-40 m and + 40 m) and gear used (i.e. vessels using hooks) and purse seiners. In the case of Ghana, there are two segments that have made use of opportunities to fish in the Ghanaian EEZ, namely Spanish purse seiners of a vessel length greater than 40 m (ESP PS VL40XX) and French purse seiners of a vessel length greater than 40 m ((FRA PS VL40XX).

Tables 5.8 and 5.9 provide net profits per vessel for the Spanish and French fleets operating in the Atlantic. Several points need to be noted:

• Over the period between 2009 and 2014 there has been a gradual improvement in the profitability of the vessels during the period of low catch prices. This is probably a result of the growing use of FADs and support vessels, particularly by the Spanish fleet103. A study undertaken for ICCAT revealed that a fleet composed of 13 support vessels in the Atlantic, used by the Spanish and associated flagged vessels, while one supply vessel is used by the French purse seiners104;

• The average net profit is calculated on the basis of four years for the Spanish fleet, and five years for the French fleet due to the unavailability of 2012 data for the Spanish fleet; and,

• It is not clear whether the costs involved in the use of support vessels and the deployment of FADs has been included. This should be the case as support vessels and FADs contribute considerably to the size of the catch for which the revenue generated is reflected.

The Ghanaian EEZ is known to be relatively productive largely due to the seasonal upwelling discussed in Section 3.1. The average tuna catch of Ghana’s EEZ for the period 2005-2014 was higher (0.0121 t) than the average catch by the EU fleet per square kilometre (0.0107 t) for the same period for all EEZs reporting a tuna catch to ICCAT105. If the catches in two high productivity EEZs that benefit from the convergence of large currents and particularly strong upwelling (i.e. those of Gabon (see section 3.1) and Mauritania respectively) are excluded, the average tuna catch by the EU fleet for the same period for the 17 remaining EEZs drops to 0.0075 t per square kilometre. Thus the EU catch per km2 of EEZ is significantly higher for Ghana’s EEZ than the average catch per km2 of the other EEZ.

101 COFREPECHE, MRAG, NFDS et POSEIDON, 2014. Economic analysis of the European Union tuna fleets – Methodology. Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 09. Bruxelles, 30 p 102 COFREPECHE, MRAG, NFDS et POSEIDON, 2015. Rapport d’analyse de la dynamique économique des flottes thonières de l'Union européenne impliquées dans des activités de pêche encadrées par des ORGP ou par des APP. Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 09. Bruxelles, 110 p 103 Alain Fonteneau, Emmanuel Chassot and Daniel Gaertner, 2015, Managing tropical tuna purse seine fisheries through limiting the number of drifting fish aggregating devices in the Atlantic: food for thought. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT. 104 Ibid. 105 Calculations done using ICCAT data. See Annex F on page 73.


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Table 5.8: costs and revenue for the Atlantic fleet of Spanish purse seiners (EUR)

Spanish PS-VL40XX 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Average

Revenue

Income from sale of catch 6 453 874 8 795 925 10 478 302 - 14 946 392

Sale of other products - 5,496 110 987 - 14 588

Operating grants 77 303 194 378 133 849 - 127 460

Total revenue 6 531 177 8 995 799 10 723 138 - 15 088 440 10 334 639

Fuel consumption (litres) 2 634 945 3 325 632 3 812 291 - 3 563 215

Costs

Fuel costs 1 455 008 1 772 405 2 469 392 - 2 446 623

Maintenance and repair 493 977 590 008 675 248 - 994 603

Number of crew 37.8 32.2 29.7 - 31.2

Average salary per crew member

32 365 44 423 50 421 - 56 431

Total salary and social charges

1 235 493 1 430 421 1 497 504 - 1 760 647

Fixed costs 771 169 727 501 808 436 - 936 027

Other variable costs 3 277 308 3 288 112 3 230 373 - 4 064 229

Total costs 7 232 955 7 808 447 8 680 953 - 10 202 29 8 481 121

Net profit per vessel

- 701 778 1 187 352 2 042 185 - 4 886 311 1 853 518

Source: COFREPECHE, MRAG, NFDS and POSEIDON, 2015.

Table 5.9: costs and revenue for the Atlantic fleet of French purse seiners (EUR)

French PS-VL40XX 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Average

Revenue

Income from sale of catch 4 642 958 5 595 349 7 614 756 8 333 356 8 189 124 4 642 958

Sale of other products - - - - - -

Operating grants - - - - - -

Total revenue 4 642 958 5 595 349 7 614 756 8 333 356 8 189 124 6 875 109

Fuel consumption (litres) 2 937 494 3 011 492 2 955 994 2 556 786 2 461 084

Costs

Fuel costs 1 164 140 1 387 083 1 780 168 1 756 561 1 748 157

Maintenance and repair 986 344 914 960 1 157 408 1 267 822 1 250 683

Number of crew 27.1 25.9 27.4 22.9 24.3

Average salary per crew member

56 014 66 520 81 403 99 036 97 222

Total salary and social charges

1 517 979 1 722 868 2 230 442 2 267 924 2 362 495

Fixed costs 961 027 958 655 1 038 655 1 101 154 1 056 390

Other variable costs 496 475 184 655 137 584 263 817 311 077

Total Costs 5 125 965 5 168 221 6 344 257 6 657 278 6 728 802 6 004 905

Net Profit per vessel

- 483 007 427 128 1 270 499 1 676 078 1 460 322 870 204

Source: COFREPECHE, MRAG, NFDS and POSEIDON, 2015.


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Given the inferred productivity of the Ghanaian EEZ, it is reasonable to deduce that on average the catch per unit of effort in Ghana’s EEZ is at least as good as it is in the ICCAT region as a whole. This assumption permits us to use the analysis in Tables 5.8 and 5.9 to argue that the operations of the EU fleet in the Ghanaian EEZ would be at least as profitable as the average for the fleets in the ICCAT region. An important element of the EU fleets’ profitability in the Atlantic Ocean is due to the fact that they have a network of access to the migratory tuna resources which includes Ghana, at present through the issue of private authorisations.

The formal legal position is that only Ghanaian industrial vessels are permitted to fish in its EEZ. It was noted by a Spanish vessel owners’ association that they have had strong indications that the current arrangement, whereby the GoG makes an exception to the formal position by allowing foreign tuna purse seine vessels to purchase private licences to fish within the EEZ, may not continue in the future. If it happens that the EU purse seiners are excluded from the Ghanaian EEZ, the network of access arrangements will be broken and this may affect the profitability of the vessels.

No details on vessel days spent in the EEZ of Ghana by EU vessels were available to the consultants from any sources.

5.5 Impact of the tuna fishery on Ghana

5.5.1 Catching sector

Sources of information on catches of tuna in the EEZ of Ghana provide somewhat differing pictures (see discussion in Section 5.2.3). In general there appears to be agreement that the large fleet of Ghanaian-registered vessels (pole and line and purse seine), which forms around 60 % of the tuna vessels authorised to fish in the EEZ, are, in many cases, joint venture vessels with considerable foreign involvement. The 40 % of foreign-registered vessels authorised to fish for tuna in the EEZ are almost 80 % EU purse seine vessels, predominantly French (nine) and the remainder Spanish (four).

Although tuna can be caught all year round in the EEZ, the main season for high tuna catches for the EU fleet in the EEZ of Ghana is in the third quarter of the year, and based on analysis of the catches by month it appears that the EU vessels spend approximately two months fishing in the Ghanaian EEZ each year.

While the locally-registered fleet catches mainly skipjack tuna, which is associated more with a high FAD usage in the fishery, the EU fleet catches mainly yellowfin, which tends to be associated with free school catches. The reported catches from different segments of the fleet vary considerably. The ICCAT database appears to have incomplete information which is providing significantly lower estimates of catch for the EU and local fleets in the Ghanaian EEZ. This is the case even when the maximum estimates are considered in comparison to those reported by the vessel owners, the GoG, and inferred by the canneries in respect to the volume of fish they buy106.

Information on catches, licences and cannery production prior to 2006 strongly infers that the fisheries legal framework was not being applied by the coastal, flag or market states involved. This implies that Ghana may have lost potential benefits through taxation along the value chain of tuna at this time.

Since 2007, GoG has benefited from income arising from EU and non-EU tuna fishing licences (in 2015: EUR 1 196 061) and has registered fishing vessels to Ghana to catch tuna within its EEZ and beyond under joint venture and fully Ghana-owned arrangements.

The EU vessels also employ some Ghanaian crew on their vessels as they are reported to be good seamen. A study commissioned by the European Parliament107 in 2016 on the impact of SFPAs on employment in the EU

106 See ICCAT Status of Stock Report 2014, Skipjack, found at: http://firms.fao.org/firms/resource/15/en, accessed June 2016.

107 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/585883/IPOL_STU%282016%29585883_EN.pdf [accessed 2016, September 13]


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and in third countries indicates that on average each EU purse seine vessel carries 23 EU crew and 23 non-EU crew. Based on the 13 EU vessels that fished in Ghana in 2015 (see Table 5.3) this would suggest that a total of 299 EU and 299 non-EU crew were employed on the purse seiners fishing in the Ghana EEZ. It has been estimated that the EU purse seiners spend approximately two months per year fishing in Ghana waters so this would imply direct employment on the purse seiners equating to 50 EU and 50 non-EU crew per year.

5.5.2 On-shore

The main tuna cannery, PFC, employs 2 000 people in the cannery, another 300 in the vessels and, indirectly, 10 000 in support services and inputs for the cannery. In addition, employment is created through the off-loading and port requirements, shipping agencies, export facilitates and government staff, mainly in the MOFAD/FC but also other government agencies to support and monitor the industry. Figures for the local consumption of tuna were not available, however six companies are listed in the trade seafood directory108 for Ghana as being active in supplying tuna products (loins, frozen and canned).

A 2015 study of the performance of tuna processing in Ghana found that the canneries were operating at about 60% of the maximum capacity, providing scope for increased processing without expanding processing capacity. The revenue of the tuna processing sector was about EUR 120 million. Of that figure, the annual value added for the tuna processing sector was estimated at EUR 44 million109.

The 2016 study on the impact of SFPAs on employment in the EU and in third countries indicates that direct employment in the canning activities in Ghana that can be attributed to the EU purse seine fleet operating in the east Atlantic is 150 people. The main cannery, PFC reported obtaining 7 000 to 8 000 t of tuna per year from the EU fleet (see section 5.3.2). Table 2.3, based on information reported to ICCAT, indicates that on average between 2005 to 2014 the EU purse seine fleet has caught 2 850 t of tuna per year in the Ghanaian EEZ and based on discussions with staff at PFC it is estimated that around 80 % of this tuna enters the Ghanaian PFC cannery. It can therefore be broadly estimated that around 45 people are directly employed in the Ghanaian cannery due to the catches of tuna within the EEZ of Ghana by EU purse seine vessels.

5.6 Short-term and medium-term outlook for fisheries

The artisanal sector, which consists mainly of large canoes, is highly important to the Ghanaian economy and is reported by various players, including local NGO groups110 111 and fishers’ groups to be in a state of crisis 112. Within the local and international media there is considerable coverage of this sector and during interviews in Ghana it was the main issue of concern for civil society and NGOs. The main concerns expressed by these groups were in respect to over-exploitation of resources (especially the small pelagics); coastal degradation;

108 http://www.trade-seafood.com/directory/seafood/country/ghana.htm [accessed 2016, May 20] 109 Berchie Asiedu, Pierre Failler and Yolaine Beyens,2015, The performance of tuna processing fishery sector to sustainable fish trade and food security in Ghana, Portsmouth UK. 110 http://pulse.com.gh/agriculture/fishing-in-ghana-fish-stocks-are-severely-depleted-ngo-warns-id4815818.html [accessed 2016, May 22] Mr Kofi Agbogah, Director of Hen Mpoano said " We are in a serious situation because data available shows that fishermen are catching less than 20 000 t a year, and our historical maximum has been 120 000 and 130 000 t a year. If your yield at a particular time is less than 10 % of the historical maximum that means that the resources are depleting. This also means that we are in crisis so we need to take some steps," 111 http://www.stopillegalfishing.com/news_article.php?ID=1637 [accessed 2016, May 20] The Programs Coordinator of the Takoradi-based Friends of The Nation (FoN), a socio-environmental advocacy group, Mr. Kwadwo Kyei Yamoah said regulation of activities in the sector had not been satisfactory further stating that “fishermen nowadays spend more time, more energy and more money, but get less and less fishes each day”. 112 http://www.stopillegalfishing.com/news_article.php?ID=1739#sthash.kVhJhmdS.dpuf [accessed 2016, May 20] ‘Expressing concerns over the countries fish stocks, Secretary to the Canoe Council in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region, Michael Nokoe, who has been fishing for the past two decades, expressed concern about the astronomical decline in fish harvest in recent times and called on government to regulate the industry.”


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over capitalisation (too many trawlers, semi-industrial vessels, canoes and fishermen); conflict and competition between the canoe and the industrial (trawler) sector; illegal fishing methods (light fishing, bamboo fishing, dynamite and chemicals); post-harvest losses; relatively weak/poor governance and law enforcement; lack of transparency in the sector; too many foreign vessels flying Ghanaian flags; poor communication between government and fishers; poor education of fishers on the state of Ghana marine fisheries; ocean pollution, in particular due to plastics. Many of these are in agreement with those listed by the GoG in their MTDP (see Section 4.1.1) and are serious concerns for the government and their partners to address.

In both interviews and review of media coverage it appears that the main real or perceived conflicts between the artisanal sector and the industrial sector are in respect to trawlers (fishing closer to the shore) and not purse seiners. However, as one local fisher commented, ‘local fishermen cannot understand and come to terms with new European vessels in Ghanaian waters’ although he went on to note that the real issue is ‘the presence of hundreds of foreign trawl vessels in Ghanaian fishery waters’. This demonstrates the need in the future to improve the consultation and information being provided to fishers so that in turn there can be better information on the possible cross-over or competition between the sub-sectors. Currently, in the GoG statistics, no records of tuna landings are recorded for the artisanal or semi-artisanal fleet.

For the tuna fishery, as demonstrated above, with the conflicting information on the catches within the Ghana EEZ, more transparent systems of catch reporting would be beneficial along with improved cross-checking of information between data sources. Improved collection of information on vessel days as a means to calculate fishing effort would also be very beneficial for demonstrating the nature of highly migratory species and understanding more fully the nature of the fisheries, the catching methods and the catch.


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6 Ex ante evaluation

This section of the report provides an ex ante evaluation of a possible SFPA between the EU and Ghana.

6.1 Problem analysis and needs assessment

6.1.1 Needs shared by both the EU and Ghana

The primary shared need of the EU and the Ghana in the context of a possible SFPA is one of the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. This is against the background of almost 85 % of the world fish stocks being reported as either fully exploited or overexploited, according to available data and the most recent assessment made by the UN FAO. Despite this, demand for fish products is rising and the FAO states that world per-capita fish consumption in 2021 is expected to be 16 % higher than the average level for 2009 to 2011.

For Ghana the need for sustainability is required to provide:

• Economic benefits that will result from sustainable exploitation of marine resources, with “fish income” constituting about 55 to 67 % of total household income of coastal communities (see section 1.1.2). Currently, the government earns over EUR 1.6 million annually from fishing licences fees (see section 5.2), and economic benefits from upstream and downstream sector business, generated from foreign vessels calling at Tema port and from the main canning factory based in Tema. Sustainable exploitation is necessary to ensure supplies of fish to the factories and to preserve the willingness of foreign vessels to pay for access to fish in Ghanaian waters, thereby generating revenue for the government. All of these types of potential economic benefits are important given the development challenges in Ghana and the need for agriculture including fisheries led economic growth (see section 1.3 and 4.1);

• Social benefits, in terms of the employment related to the economic activities of the upstream, catching and downstream sectors; and

• Food security, as Ghana has a large population (28 million people); it is a lower-middle income country with a population heavily reliant on fish for animal protein (61 % of the total animal protein consumed, see section 1.3). Sustainable resource exploitation is essential to Ghana’s food security; this can be achieved either directly through ensuring sustainable landings of fish in Ghana for consumption in the country (mainly from demersal and small pelagic species), or indirectly by generating revenues and foreign exchange that can be used to pay for imports of cheap fish/protein sources or other food items.

For the EU, sustainability is needed to comply with, and support, the objective of the reformed CFP (which includes an objective of ensuring that ‘negative impacts of fishing on the marine ecosystems are minimised’ (Article 2.3 of the Basic Regulation on the CFP). The EU fleet currently active in the EAO wishes to continue operations in the region in the future and needs long-term sustainable stocks in order to do so113. There is a strong interest amongst EU vessel owners to continue fishing in Ghana waters as part of their regional fishing strategy; ensuring sustainable stocks in the region and in Ghana is therefore critical.

The EU and Ghana, as members of the ICCAT, also have a need/obligation to work to improve the sustainability of capture fisheries in the EAO, given that the mission of the ICCAT is ‘the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas’. The CFP also highlights the need for the EU to contribute towards the strengthening of RFMOs; one area of common interest is to improve the collection and reporting of Ghanaian data by vessels flying their flag. As has been demonstrated by the figures in this report (see chapter 5), while Ghana has improved its reporting in recent years, there is a need for more clarity in the

113 Spanish and French fleet representation and Member State administrations, pers. comms, during April and May 2016.


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reporting of catches by the industrial and artisanal fleet. Therefore the data sent to ICCAT by Ghana contributes an important element of the overall quality of the stock assessments made and improving this would be beneficial to all.

Catches of tuna in the EAO have remained stable for the last decade, averaging about 350 000 t during the period 2006 to 2010 (see Regional Report114). Around 100 000 t was reported caught by EU purse seiners in 2014 (see section 2.2). The east Atlantic stocks of skipjack were assessed as ‘not probably’ overfished and ‘not probably’ subject to overfishing. The Atlantic bigeye tuna stock was assessed as being overfished and overfishing was occurring in 2014. While the yellowfin stock was assessed in 2010 to be overfished it was not subject to overfishing, although it was noted that there was considerable uncertainty in this assessment for yellowfin. This suggests that there will be no room for expansion in EU catches, except possibly in skipjack, although maintaining skipjack catches at current levels was recommended to the ICCAT Commission, meaning that all parties have an interest in ensuring the sustainability of these tuna stocks (i.e., the EU, regional organisations, and the fisheries administrations in Ghana). There is an evident need for partnership between all parties to enhance management capacities in Ghana and at the regional level, to help to foster good governance, continued developments in science, implementation of fisheries policy, developments in MCS and no IUU fishing.

Peace, security and stability in the Gulf of Guinea maritime area is prioritised for Ghana and other coastal states under the regional Yaoundé Declaration, and by the EU through its Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015–2020. The Declaration and the Plan commit both parties to cooperate in combatting maritime insecurity for the benefit of all parties.

The shared needs of the EU and Ghana also include a possible SFPA to be concluded in the spirit of fair, transparent and equitable cooperation and respect for human rights and democratic principles, and to aim at sharing benefits fairly between the two parties. Indeed, the content of a possible SFPA should also include text serving to safeguard human rights under international agreements. An additional shared need is for safeguarding working conditions on board fishing vessels in line with international standards reflected in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.

There is a need for various EU parties and Ghana to use an agreed set of coordinates for the fishing area of Ghana taking into account the disputed areas (see section 1.1.3 and Annex D); this would be beneficial with or without an SFPA, but it could be accommodated within the framework of negotiating an SFPA.

6.1.2 Ghana needs

Ghana has recently expressed an interest in concluding an SFPA with the EU. This is against the background Ghana being pre-identified by the EU in 2013 as a non-cooperating country on IUU fishing issues. The pre-identification was lifted in October 2015, opening the door for possible negotiations. Ghana’s potential needs from a possible SFPA with the EU can be inferred from current policy, legislative and strategy documents for the country, and the consultation undertaken as part of this evaluation (April 2016). Ghana is a flag, port, coastal and market state in respect to fisheries and has a range of needs relating to these as well as its general development needs.

6.1.2.1 Government needs

The 2008 Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy foresees that the sector will “contribute to socio-economic development through food and nutritional security and poverty reduction in a sustainable and economically efficient manner, within the natural limits of capture fisheries resources and environmental protection requirements”. The Policy recognises that the fisheries sector is a critical part of the wider economy and must contribute to the Government's macro-economic objectives. Ghana would benefit from maximising and 114 COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles.


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stabilising its revenue streams from EU fishing fleet payments to access Ghana’s EEZ, and from ensuring the protection of its marine ecosystem.

According to the 2015 Economic Outlook Report, Ghana’s economic growth rate has slowed in recent years to an estimated 3.9 % in 2015 (see Section 1.3). Ghana’s external trade was reported to have performed poorly in 2014 largely because of a decline in export earnings. The need to maintain and improve the generation of foreign earnings is important; the exports of tuna (loins and cans) to the EU are an important contributor to this (see Section 1.4) together with the income from licence fees.

Following the GoG’s acknowledgement that the fishery sector was underperforming a restructuring occurred in 2013. Ghana amended its 2002 Fisheries Act in 2014 and the 2010 Fisheries Regulations in 2015 (see section 4.2). This new administrative and legislative framework is only starting to be implemented and many provisions and plans remain on paper alone. Ghana needs assistance to implement this new framework and to deliver the benefits that may flow from an SFPA. Such sectoral support would help the nation to manage the fisheries sector and to build up the human and institutional capacity needed for Ghana to function as an efficient and responsible fishing nation and develop its ability to regulate fishing activities in its fishing zone.

Sources of information on tuna catch in Ghana’s EEZ differ (see section 5.2), but there is general agreement that the large fleet of Ghanaian-registered vessels (pole and line and purse seine), which forms around 60 % of the tuna vessels authorised to fish in the EEZ, are, in many cases, joint venture vessels with considerable foreign involvement115. The 40 % of foreign-registered vessels authorised to fish for tuna in the EEZ are almost 80 % EU purse seine vessels. The locally-registered fleet catches mainly skipjack tuna, which is associated with high FAD use, whereas the EU fleet catches mainly yellowfin, which tends to be associated with free school catches. The reported catches from different segments of the fleet vary considerably. The ICCAT database may have incomplete information as estimates are significantly lower for catch for the EU and local fleets in the Ghanaian EEZ than other sources. This is the case even when the maximum estimates are considered in comparison to those reported by the vessel owners, the GoG, and inferred by the canneries in respect to the volume of fish they buy.

With regard to MCS, it is clear that although great improvements have been made, Ghana still has a somewhat limited knowledge of the fishing activities taking place in its EEZ (see section 2.4) and in particular a lack of monitoring. Local fleets of industrial trawlers and artisanal canoes are not reported to catch tuna within the EEZ of Ghana (see section 5.2): the GoG would benefit from improving their monitoring of all local and foreign fleets to ensure that catch estimates are as accurate as possible and that these are cross-checked with landings and processing information.

The negotiation process for an SFPA, should a negotiation mandate be provided, could be expected to result in further and more detailed discussions between Ghana and the EU about how sectoral support funding could best support Ghana’s needs and the implementation of their new strategic framework. Any sectoral support funding would need to be carefully aligned with any other regional initiatives and contributions from donors (including the EU) to ensure coherence and avoid duplication of funding.

6.1.2.2 Processors needs

Ghana has a purse seine fleet and an important local pole-and-line fleet that ensure that the country ranks in the top producers of Atlantic tunas (section 2.2). It was reported that an average duration of a sea trip by the fishing vessels has increased in recent years, but that they are still catching mainly in the Ghana EEZ and only sometimes in Benin and Cote d’Ivoire.

115 Establishing an accurate assessment of the ownership and control of the Ghanaian fleet was not possible within the remit of this evaluation. In general, it appears that among EU states, Spain is thought to be the most active in joint venture investments in Ghana.


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In 2006, the tuna fishery in Ghana ‘officially’ started allowing foreign vessels to fish in their EEZ, although according to ICCAT data this was occurring before that date. The Ghana legal framework was amended in 2006 to allow foreign access under certain conditions (see section 4.2.2) to ensure that the processing industry, notably PFC, gained a more secure supply of larger tuna to their cannery from foreign vessels that tended to fish more on free schools than the Ghanaian vessels, they were able to supply larger yellowfin tuna to the canneries. It was noted by the cannery that this argument still remains valid and that the contribution by the foreign fleet, including EU vessels, is important for their operations, with between 7 000 and 8 000 t of EU caught tuna being landed to the PFC cannery in Tema (see section 5.3). This steady supply of fish to the cannery is vital in order for it to maintain PFC’s direct and indirect employment of 12 300 people; additional employment is created through the off-loading and port requirements, shipping agencies and export facilitates.

6.1.2.3 Civil society and NGO needs

In a recent study 13.4 % of Ghana’s economically active population were reported to be dependent on fisheries, broadly in line with government statistics showing almost 10 % of the total population. Over 61 % of animal protein in the Ghanaian diet comes from fish and the per capita fish consumption is 27.2 kg. The need to ensure this means for employment, and supply of nutrition, is vital for the people of Ghana. Therefore any concerns that EU fishing vessels may threaten these priorities must be considered. From interviews and media it appears that the main conflicts between the artisanal sector and the industrial sector concern trawlers and not purse seiners. This concurs with the GoG statistics that report no tuna landings by the artisanal fleet.

This demonstrates the need to improve the consultation and information being provided to fishers so that in turn there can be better information on the possible cross-over or competition between the sub-sectors.

For the tuna fishery, as demonstrated above, with the conflicting information on the catches within the Ghana EEZ, more transparent systems of catch reporting would be beneficial, along with improved cross-checking of information. It would be useful to improve the collection of information on vessel days in order to calculate fishing effort, demonstrate the nature of highly migratory species and understand more fully the nature of the fisheries, catching methods and catch. This would feed into any discussions about potential or real competition between EU purse seiners and Ghanaian purse seiners; the data available are insufficiently clear for showing if there is any competition. As noted above (section 6.1.2.1), many of the Ghanaian purse seine vessels are in fact joint ventures with considerable foreign engagement.

On the other side, the analysis of tuna fisheries that are active in the Ghanaian EEZ is showing that very large catches are already taken by Ghanaian vessels in the national EEZ. Ghana is clearly the only country in Africa with a large fleet of tuna vessels actively and permanently fishing all year round in their EEZ. This is one of the very rare cases where a local fleet is already exploiting tuna resources in the national EEZ, and although the EU purse seine fleet is exploiting tuna on a seasonal basis, there remains a question of whether this fish would be utilised by the local fleet if the EU fleet did not target it. However, based on available evidence that the EU fleet has been fishing in Ghanaian waters for many years and both the FC and the EU fleet representatives expressed their interest to continue this access, an SFPA could be concluded on the basis that there would be no increase in the actual catch to the EU fleet only in the framework that it was caught, i.e. an SFPA or no SFPA.

6.1.3 EU needs

The EU fleet targeting highly migratory species needs to follow the stocks moving from one jurisdiction to another, without having to interrupt their activity. EU ship-owners can fish in third countries’ EEZs under private agreements, but those agreements very often do no offer legal security. EU purse seiners in the 2010 to 2014 period annually caught around 100 000 t of tuna and tuna-like species in the EAO, of which approximately 50 % were caught within the EEZs of the coastal states by EU purse seiners (see Annex F). It is likely that the expected management measures required for FAD fishing will increase the need for vessels to follow the movement of free schools across the neighbouring EEZs of coastal countries.

Through recent public communications and reports, the EC, Council and Parliament have expressed a view that the SFPAs should be maintained under the external dimension of the reformed CFP. These SFPAs should


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contribute to sustainable fisheries practices, be beneficial and fair to both parties, contribute to the development of the fisheries sector in the partner State and contribute to the supply of fish and fish products to the EU and to the partner States.

SFPAs are complementary to, and reinforce, the EU’s strategy of creating a network of fishing opportunities for its fishing vessels in the EAO; this fits into the EU’s global strategy of sustainable resource exploitation, ocean governance, food supplies, security and employment116. At present, the EU has active SFPAs and Protocols with nine117 countries in the region.

6.1.3.1 EU fleet needs

The EAO is one of the main regions for the EU's fishing fleet and obtaining fishing authorisations from different coastal states so that the stocks can be followed freely between jurisdictions and into the high seas is essential to the EU fleet. A potential SFPA with Ghana would play an important part in securing this regional network.

For countries with which the EU has no SFPA, European vessel operators have recourse to other means of gaining access such as private licenses, joint-ventures and charters. Such access carries risks for European vessel owners, as well as the reduced security of access (see section 2.4). The main concern is to secure and/or maintain fishing opportunities for the EU purse seine fleet in the Ghana EEZ. Although tuna can be caught all year round in the EEZ, the main season for high tuna catches for the EU fleet in the EEZ of Ghana is in the third quarter of the year. The Ghanaian EEZ is known to be relatively productive largely due to the seasonal upwelling discussed in Section 3.1. These large seasonal catches of tunas include high catches of high value yellowfin caught in free schools. The average tuna catch of Ghana’s EEZ for the 2005-2014 period was higher (0.0121 t) than the average catch by the EU fleet per square kilometre (0.0107 t) for the same period (for all EEZs reporting a tuna catch to ICCAT), demonstrating that this EEZ is important. This view was echoed by the vessel owners’ associations interviewed.

One possible concern of vessel owners is the formal legal position permitting only Ghanaian industrial vessels to fish in Ghana’s EEZ. Since 2007, the GoG has in reality made an exception to the formal position by allowing foreign tuna purse seine vessels to purchase private licences to fish within the EEZ, but there is no guarantee that this situation will continue in the future. If EU purse seiners are excluded from the Ghanaian EEZ, the network of access arrangements will be broken and this may affect the profitability of the vessels. An SFPA would offer longer-term secure access for EU purse seiners to the EEZ of Ghana.

Vessel owners reported that Abidjan is the biggest and most dedicated tuna port in the region, although Tema’s facilities were largely adequate. However, it would be very beneficial if there was a fishery sector strategic plan for industrial development that included the development of a dedicated fishing port; this may be something for consideration during negotiations of the sectoral support aspects of a possible SFPA.

The number of vessels in the EU longliner fleets cannot be raised further as the capacity ceiling set by ICCAT has already been reached. As the quota allocated for swordfish, the main target species (along with shark), is regularly reached, no further development of that fishery is envisaged and no EU vessel owners expressed any interest in the Ghanaian EEZ for longliners.

6.1.3.2 EU consumer needs

The EU consumer receives an average of around 27 000 t of tuna products from Ghana per year (see section 5.3) and there is a need to maintain this supply of products to the EU market.

116 CFP, Article 2(5), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:354:0022:0061:EN:PDF 117 http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/agreements/index_en.htm [2016, May 24)]


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6.2 Objective setting

Ghana has had a long-standing relationship with the EU, through the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements and through the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement. Within this framework the EU and Ghana regularly engage in dialogue relating to political, social, development, trade, regional and governance issues (see section 1.6). Any objectives set under a potential future SFPA should be in line with these frameworks, such as the NIP and the RIP, with the main priorities being: peace, security and regional stability; regional economic integration and support for trade and private sector; resilience, food and nutritional security and natural resources.

The objective setting, as outlined below, addresses the wish to move on from the baseline situation to address the question of what are the expected effects of the EU intervention for the EU, for Ghana, for eliminating IUU fishing and supporting environmental objectives, and for the ship owner. The general and specific objectives of having an SFPA between the EU and Ghana as set out below stem from those specified in the terms of reference for this evaluation, the needs assessment (see section 6.1), the lessons learnt (see section 6.5), and the reform of the CFP (see European Parliament 2012, European Parliament 2013, Council of the European Union 2012, and the Basic Regulation on the CFP).

6.2.1 General objectives

1. Resource conservation and environmental sustainability ensured through rational and sustainable exploitation of Ghana’s living marine resources.

2. Security provided for the financial viability of the EU purse seine fleet operating in the EAO, and for the employment linked to fleet activities both in the EU and in Ghana.

3. A sustainable fisheries sector developed in Ghana, and Ghana fully integrated into the global economy.

4. Respect for human rights, democratic and market economy principles promoted.

6.2.2 Specific objectives

1. The performance of the ICCAT strengthened to better enable it to conserve and manage marine living resources under its purview.

2. Scientific knowledge of the fisheries resources improved through cooperation between the EU and Ghana in particular in the collection, compilation and reporting of Ghana’s catches.

3. Coherence and compliance with the conservation and management measures of the ICCAT enhanced by combatting IUU fishing.

4. Access facilitated for the EU fishing fleet to Ghana’s waters to exploit tuna species within limits set in a clear and transparent manner on the basis of the best available scientific advice and relevant information, and taking into account scientific assessments conducted at the regional level as well as conservation and management measures adopted by the ICCAT.

5. The same principles and standards for fisheries management promoted in Ghana as applied in EU waters, when endorsed at the ICCAT level for a non-discriminatory application amongst all fleets.

6. The level of fees payable by EU vessel owners for their fishing activities is fair, non-discriminatory and commensurate to the benefits provided through the access conditions, there is no discriminatory treatment towards EU vessels, and a level playing field promoted among the different fleets operating in Ghana.

7. Security of access provided for EU vessels to fish in Ghana waters.

8. A continued supply of fish is ensured for the EU markets and for Ghana markets.

9. Capacity is built in Ghana for sustainable resource conservation.

10. The employment of seamen, landings and the fish-processing industry in Ghana, or more generally in ACP countries, is promoted where possible and suitable.


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11. EU fishing vessels do not operate in Ghana’s waters if an SFPA is in force unless they are in possession of a fishing authorisation issued in accordance with a procedure agreed in the Agreement.

12. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments, and the principle of the rule of law, constitute an essential element of the SFPA and the human rights clause should be fully consistent with EU development policy objectives.

6.3 Delivery mechanisms

This ex ante evaluation considers two possible delivery mechanisms. The first is the base case scenario, i.e. no SFPA between the EU and the Ghana. The second is an SFPA between the EU and the Ghana. These essentially assess if it is relevant to have a SFPA with Ghana.

6.3.1 Option 1: no SFPA between the EU and the Ghana

This option represents the status quo and the alternative instrument to having an SFPA, i.e. leaving EU vessel owners or their representative organisations free to negotiate private access agreements (licences in Ghana) to fish in Ghanaian waters. The option assumes that they would do so given that vessels are already paying for access, and that:

• Around 13 purse seine vessels would annually take up private licences to fish in Ghana waters on a quarterly or annual basis, if required additional access for supply vessels would be applied for (although this is not currently the case);

• Access would be provided for catches of highly migratory species, i.e. tuna and tuna-like species, with purse seine vessels targeting skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna;

• Ghana only allows foreign participation in the tuna fishery through joint venture, however, under Sections 63 and 64 of the Fisheries Act, the Minister responsible for fisheries may, upon advice of the FC, grant access outside of this requirement. It is under this ‘exemption’ that the EU purse seine vessels are anticipated to be granted licences to fish within the Ghana EEZ (section 4.2);

• Access costs would be based on an annual fee per vessel GRT and an additional application and processing fee. These charges may increase from current levels (see Table 5.4) pending approval of proposed new fees to the FC;

• No Joint Committee would be established to monitor or evaluate the access granted although the Joint Working Group on IUU fishing issues enables and facilitates some dialogue (see section 4.5.5);

• Financial contributions would be made only by EU vessel owners, not by the EU; and

• Financial contributions would be for access only and not for fisheries sector policy support.

6.3.2 Option 2: an SFPA between the EU and the Ghana

This option represents the situation if an SFPA is negotiated between EU and Ghana, to include:

• Around 13 fishing authorisations would be provided for EU purse seine vessels, with additional access included for supply vessels (if required in the future);

• To provide access to EU vessels for highly migratory species, i.e. tuna and tuna-like species, with purse seine vessels targeting skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna;

• To invoke sections 63 and 64 of the Fisheries Act, permitting the Minister responsible for fisheries to grant access to foreign vessels to fish within the EEZ of Ghana for tuna and tuna-like species.

• Given the nature of tuna fisheries, any requirement to take Ghanaian crew members on board or Ghanaian observers, should be made in light of regional considerations and provide alternative options or compensation where applicable;


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• The requirement for EU vessels to land a high proportion of the catch taken in Ghanaian water in Tema port for processing would be appropriate, this should however, take into consideration the need for some flexibility for vessel owners;

• The requirement for port inspections for EU vessels should be incorporated into the SFPA in such a manner as to permit a minimum of one inspection per EU vessel over the duration of the SFPA;

• A Protocol lasting for an initial period of three years;

• Access costs to be based on vessel fishing authorisation fees, and a minimum reference tonnage with payments per tonne for catches over the reference tonnage. Additional costs may be required;

• A Joint Committee made up of representatives of both parties to meet regularly to monitor the implementation and impacts of the SFPA;

• Financial contributions to be made by both the EU and EU vessel owners for catching vessels but only by vessel owners for supply vessels; and

• Financial contributions to be provided for access, as well as for fisheries sector policy support.

6.3.3 Regional SFPA between the EU and West Africa

The potential for a regional SFPA was discussed in the 2013 regional analysis and it was concluded that such a regional approach was not yet a realistic option. From the findings of this evaluation, and the complexities found in regional integration, it would appear that negotiating a regional SFPA may still be premature. However, a regional approach with other countries currently involved in an SFPA with the EU should be explored with coastal States to support the implementation of coherent terms and conditions at the regional level. These could include an agreed approach to the cost of access, coherent approaches to embarking coastal states crew and observers, possibly through a regional programme and coherent approaches to VMS, AIS and electronic reporting system (ERS).

6.3.4 Risks and mitigating measures

This section of the evaluation addresses the question of what risks are involved in the implementation of the intervention and what countermeasures could be proposed? The risks identified in association with a decision to provide a negotiation mandate, and then with any future SFPA, are as follows.

There is a risk of a failure by EU vessels to utilise the fishing opportunities provided. This risk exists for both options, as currently vessels purchase licences often before they know whether they will use them. Likewise, under an SFPA, EU and vessel owner payments would be made without prior knowledge of catch size. Therefore, the difference is that under option 2 risks are for EU funds not providing value for money. To mitigate this risk care should be taken to ensure that the reference tonnage fairly reflects the expected catch, using an average from the ICCAT data for Ghana as reflected in Annex F Table 8.4. The risk could also be mitigated by ensuring a conservative number of fishing opportunities is provided; this has been proposed, taking into consideration the state of the stocks and effort controls of ICCAT and based on the most likely estimate of actual vessel numbers likely to take up fishing opportunities. The number of licences purchased in the past years by the EU fleet has increased from nine to thirteen and this level of demand is anticipated to continue.

The negotiation of an SFPA may fail due to the challenges posed by complying with the EU IUU fishing regulation. However it is anticipated that the Joint Working Group on IUU fishing will ensure a dialogue to mitigate this risk.

There is a risk of competition between EU vessels and the national fleet of purse seiners in particular, and other vessels targeting tuna. This is a real risk that would undermine the principles of SPFAs. Assessing this risk is complicated by the poor availability and accuracy of data on catches. Currently 13 EU vessels are granted licences to fish in the EEZ of Ghana, despite a limited understanding of the competition they represent to local vessels. The EU vessels mainly fish in the EEZ of Ghana during a short season in the third quarter of


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the year, while the Ghanaian vessels fish there all year around. The EU vessels report catching more yellowfin (generally in the area of free schools) compared to Ghanaian vessels focused on catching skipjack, using FADs. The statistics of the GoG report no tuna catches by the artisanal fishers or the small scale sector, but it is unclear if this infers that no tuna is caught or that no tuna catch is recorded. As the EU vessels are likely to continue to seek licences under option 1 to fish in the Ghana EEZ, it is proposed that option two would permit closer monitoring and control of the situation and through sector support assistance in improving the monitoring of the other fleets.

There is also a risk of disagreement over whether sections 63 and 64 of the Fisheries Act, permitting the Minister responsible for fisheries to grant access to foreign vessels to fish within the EEZ of Ghana for tuna and tuna-like species, can be committed to for a three to five year duration. During interviews in Ghana it was reported that this could, in practice, be permitted.

There is a risk of a failure by parties to agree on the content of the sectoral support matrix, in the event of there being a difference of views about objectives and priority needs. However, this risk is not considered a major one, and the content of this report and background information, provided on current donor assistance and government policy, should serve to mitigate any such risk. It can also be observed that both Ghana and the EU have many shared needs, as already highlighted, which should mean that the sectoral support matrix could be agreed without difficulty.

A failure by the Joint Committee to monitor the implementation of the SFPA is a risk to meeting its objectives (as specified above in section 6.2) and the SFPA’s arrangements and agreements outlined in its Protocol and Annexes. This potential risk could be mitigated by ensuring that the Joint Committee’s meetings are held in due time to verify the implementation of ongoing programming documents, and through ensuring a careful review of the functioning of the Joint Committee in ex post evaluations.

Both options carry inherent risks with regard to uncertainty over fish prices, and the impact that such price fluctuations might have on achieving ‘fair and mutual benefits’. The financial contributions for access can be expected to be based on an assumed medium to long-term value of catches, based on fish prices and fixed for the duration of a Protocol. Therefore, any rise or fall in tuna prices (assuming constant costs of fishing) would result in a rise or fall in the value-added by EU vessels, while the benefits to Ghana from the financial contributions would rise or fall as a percentage of the sales value of fish. This risk due to the fluctuating international market prices for tuna, is more marked under option 2. Under option 1, financial contributions for access are negotiated annually. Risks associated with option 2 could therefore be minimised by having a time-limited Protocol.

Both options also have risks in relation to the exploitation of fish stocks in the EAO. As already noted, only stocks of skipjack were not overfished or subject to overfishing, while concerns over the bigeye tuna and the yellowfin stocks were considerable at the ICCAT Commission. It is therefore important to not increase the effort by either purse seine vessels or failing to clamp down on IUU fishing. These risks should be mitigated at regional and Member State level; option 2 offers a greater opportunity for Ghana and the EU to work together to ensure that effort does not increase, and that IUU fishing is reduced in parallel with a better reporting of catches.

Finally, the additional risks of option 1 are the benefits of option 2:

• No sectoral support funding, potentially jeopardising the realisation of the objectives;

• Less coherence between access arrangements and other EU-linkages with Ghana, for example, with development policy

• Reduced legal certainty and security of rights for vessel owners (because a Protocol is assumed for more than one year, while access rights under private licences are per year). This could jeopardise the regional network of fishing opportunities so important for the EU fleet in the EAO; and


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• No strengthened role of the EU within the ICCAT and other regional organisations, i.e. an SFPA would contribute to strengthening the role of the EU in the region.

6.3.5 Conclusion regarding the two options

The preceding text as summarised in Table 6.1 below, suggests that option 2 is preferable. While there are some risks in relation to value for money provided by EU funds under option 2, achieving the overall objectives of sustainable exploitation and human rights and democratic principles would be less likely under option 1 (no SFPA). Given that exploitation of catches in a sustainable manner is the fundamental underpinning for long-term economic and social benefits for both parties, option 2 should be preferred. Ensuring that access provided to EU vessels is based on SFPAs rather than private agreements is also consistent with the long-term thinking of the EU that SFPAs are preferable to private access agreements signed by Member State fleets, because of the different results that are likely to stem from the two methods of access.

Table 6.1: summary comparison of two policy options being evaluated

Option 1 (no SFPA) – key benefits/costs/risks Option 2 (an SFPA) – key benefits/costs/risks

Support for sustainability objectives – low: as access conditions would not cover many issues typically included in SFPA texts, and there would be no sectoral support funding or joint committee monitoring.

Relevance to needs – medium: similar to option 2, but no sectoral support funding in support of fisheries sector management needs and reduced security for EU fleet for ongoing access to vessels.

Effectiveness – medium: yearly negotiation process flexible/adaptive to changes in fish prices and rates of utilisation, but risk of failing to agree the basis for access and lower security of access provided to vessels.

Efficiency – unclear: without better information/ assumptions about costs of access.

Coherence – low: between access arrangements and other EU-linkages with Ghana and the region, and with EU’s role as a member of ICCAT.

Risks – the lack of benefits resulting from option 2 and risk of not securing on-going access to the Ghana EEZ for EU vessels.

Support for sustainability objectives – high: through the content of SFPA text and financial contributions for sectoral support funding.

Relevance to needs – medium/high: no (or insignificant) increase in total catches for the EU fleet, or upstream or downstream benefits/linkages in the EU or the Ghana over option 1. But increased security of network of fishing opportunities for EU fleet, and sector support financial contributions to Ghana used to support needs.

Effectiveness – medium: a three-year assumed protocol providing good security of rights for vessels, but low flexibility to match costs of access to changes in fish prices and utilisation.

Efficiency – unclear: without economic/financial modelling and with financial contributions not known. Risk of low efficiency and value for money for the EU if there is low utilisation of fishing opportunities.

Coherence – high: between access arrangements and other EU-linkages with Ghana and in the region, and with EU’s role as a member of the ICCAT.

Risks –failure to agree an SFPA and sectoral support plan, low utilisation and weak monitoring of the SFPA by the Joint Committee.

Source: Consultants’ compilation


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6.4 The added value of EU involvement in a SFPA

In considering what are the present interventions by EU/Member States/other donors/private sector in relation to fisheries in the region (including aid to development programmes), it can be observed that recent/current regional interventions (for example WATF, WARFP, EAF-Nansen etc.) are fairly numerous, and that Ghana has benefited, and is still benefiting from such interventions. The RIP concluded between the EU and the West Africa region (2014-2020) makes EUR 1.15 billion available to the region, with priorities centred on regional integration. The text of a Regional EPA was finalised in 2014 and it includes a chapter on cooperation and fisheries, which details measures aimed at the promotion of sustainable fishing. The EU strategy and associated action plan for the Gulf of Guinea (see section 1.6) is yet another regional initiative that will bring both benefits and place demands on Ghana.

In section 4.1 the Ghana policy and the MTDP strategic plan is presented for the next five years. Following Ghana’s large efforts to strengthen its fisheries governance in the last few years there are many initiatives that would benefit from the added value of EU/DG MARE involvement in an SFPA. The financial contributions for sectoral support funding would complement other funded regional initiatives and they would provide capacity- building for staff to meet the challenges on regional initiatives.

Such an approach would serve to ensure that the proposed SFPA would be complementary to and coherent with other interventions, by providing synergies with other recent and ongoing interventions while ensuring that financial contributions for sectoral support under a SFPA were not duplicating the activities/funding provided by other interventions. An SFPA would include sectoral funding to help Ghana comply with its ICCAT obligations and to implement ICCAT resolutions/recommendations. This would add value for Ghana in terms of ensuring that the programme is complementary to other interventions and initiatives taking place at the regional level. This synergy is important, given the regional and shared nature of the tuna fisheries in the EAO. Given the typical content of the text of SFPAs, reform of the external dimension of the CFP and the setting of SFPA objectives and content in line with the reform, and the EU’s status as a member of the ICCAT, it can be expected that an SFPA would be fully coherent with the CFP (and its reform), with ICCAT arrangements and with the EU’s international obligations and policies, including ocean governance. The sectoral support matrix would also ensure that the SFPA is fully coherent with the national fisheries sectoral policy in Ghana.

In considering the role and impact of the ICCAT in assessing whether an FPA would contribute to strengthening the role of the EU in the region as a fishing player and as a market state, it can be noted that having a SFPA with Ghana would not itself result in any change in vessel numbers compared to the current situation where vessels fish in Ghana under private licence. However, it can be concluded that the EU’s role in the ICCAT would be strengthened if it were representing EU vessels fishing in Ghana waters under an SFPA, rather than such vessels fishing under private access agreements negotiated by vessel representative organisations.

In view of the extensive involvement of the EU in the EAO region, particularly in the fisheries sector, the SFPA provides a vehicle for a coordinated approach that would not be as easily achieved at the level of Member States. Through the SFPA, it is possible to standardise and harmonise Member State involvement in the fishery to the best economic effect for both the EU and Ghana. It also provides a useful channel for sector support, providing an efficient means of avoiding duplication of effort and leading to greater effectiveness.

6.5 Lessons learned from the past

As far as could be ascertained, there was no previous ex ante evaluation that considered the possibility of a fisheries agreement with Ghana. The successful lifting of the ‘yellow card’ in 2015 marked a milestone in Ghana’s progress in improving the governance of its fishery sector and opening the door to possible future negotiations.

The trend towards increasing the proportion of the compensation payments made by the vessel owners and reducing that paid by the EC is evident in newly negotiated SFPAs. While the payments made by the EC are


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guaranteed, the payments made by vessel owners are only paid for those vessels that actually take up the authorisations to fish. Therefore, as the percentage paid by vessel owners increases, the risk to coastal states of an insecure income increases if vessels do not take up authorisations. These figures will require careful consideration by both parties in the negotiation of an SFPA.

Difficulties in compliance with the requirements of an SFPA/Protocol can be found often in regard to the employment of local crew on EU vessels and the deployment of observers. These require careful consideration when negations are underway. A regional approach with other countries currently involved in an SFPA with the EU could be the way forward to implement coherent rules at the regional level, to embark coastal states’ crew and agree by consensus the start of a regional observer programme. A part of the sectoral support could also be devoted to part-fund the training needed for seamen before they can work on EU vessels.

6.6 Planning future monitoring and evaluations

This section of the evaluation addresses which indicators, data collection arrangements or monitoring systems should be envisaged in order to ensure proper evaluation of the EU intervention in the future.

The appropriate method for implementing the preferred option (to have an SFPA between the EU and Ghana) relates to: i) procedural steps that must be taken, and ii) future monitoring and evaluation.

In process terms, for a SFPA to be implemented the Council of the EU must first be provided with this ex ante evaluation, and the EC must be given a mandate to negotiate a SFPA and Protocol with Ghana on behalf of the EU. The EC and Ghana should then prepare for, and complete negotiations regarding the detailed content of the SFPA and Protocol. The content of these would then need to be approved by the Ghanaian government, and by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. With respect to approval by the Ghana government, the procedure that must be followed is that of entering into any international agreement.

With respect to monitoring and evaluation, the most appropriate method of implementation would be for:

• The EU to specify a plan for sector support with associated indicators, and means of verification, which could be used in any ex post evaluation;

• The EU and Ghana to jointly agree on a sectoral support matrix;

• A Joint Committee to meet at least yearly to assess both the implementation of the SFPA in light of the matrix, and success in implementing the sectoral support matrix; and

• An evaluation to be completed before the Protocol expires, of both ex post results/impacts, and of potential ex ante results/impacts of a future Protocol. This would allow both parties to consider the need for renegotiation of the Protocol based on its utilisation and impacts.

It should be taken into account that the Ghanaian general and presidential elections on 7 November 2016 may affect negotiation or negotiation timetables for a possible SFPA. Likewise, the decision expected in 2018 on the determination of the maritime border between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana by the Special Chamber of the Law of the Sea Tribunal may have size implications for the area available to the EU fleet for fishing (see section 1.8).

The MOFAD/FC has a Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MFAC) in order to formalise cooperation with stakeholders (see section 4.3) and they are expected to be active in the process of monitoring a possible SFPA.

6.7 Helping to achieve cost-effectiveness

This final section of the evaluation considers two evaluation questions: what are the different cost implications of the proposed options? This refers to the direct financial outlays from the EU budget, administrative costs for the Commission, human resources needed and costs for third parties; and will the benefits and longer-term impacts of the intervention justify the costs?


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A SFPA, if agreed, would have a number of implications in terms of the volume of appropriations from the EU budget and the human resources and other administrative expenditure to be allocated.

Appropriations from the EU budget would be determined by the levels of financial contribution to be paid by the EU to Ghana for access and for sectoral support. The exact amounts involved cannot be estimated at this stage and would depend on:

• The reference tonnage included in the Protocol;

• The relative contributions to be made by a) the EU and b) EU vessel owners.

There would be additional implications for the EU budget relating to human resources requirements by the EU for negotiations and the monitoring of the SFPA. These would arise from the following two requirements, and would be fulfilled within the existing DG MARE staff and budgets limits:

• Participation by DG MARE staff (including regional DG MARE's fisheries attachés) and potentially by EU Delegation fisheries staff, in negotiations, and then in Joint Committee meetings (staff time and operational costs, for example travel); and

• DG MARE and EU Delegation staff time associated with fishing authorisations, data collection/management, financial management and ongoing monitoring of the SFPA.

Having an SFPA would also result in some likely costs for Ghana in terms of staff time and any operational costs associated with the involvement of government personnel in monitoring the implementation of the SFPA and participating in Joint Committee meetings. But it is assumed that such responsibilities would be taken on by existing staff and covered within existing operational budgets.

Finally, there could be some potential staff and operational costs at Spanish and French administrative levels, in negotiating, monitoring and overseeing the activities of Member State purse seine vessels operating in Ghana waters. Existing institutional staff would be expected to be involved; these responsibilities would not require the hiring of new staff or additional staff costs. However, some additional operational budgets might be required for staff to attend meetings.


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7 Key findings and conclusions

This evaluation has highlighted a number of important points in relation to current problems of tuna fisheries management in the Ghana, has provided a number of lessons learned, and evaluated two options – one representing a situation with no SFPA and the other being an option to have an SFPA. The final section of this report provides a few key findings and conclusions on these issues. Statements in the text below are not referenced, given that full referencing has been provided in the main body of this report.

7.1 Key findings and conclusions about current problems and needs

Fisheries management and conservation of regional highly migratory species in the EAO falls primarily under the mandate of the ICCAT, but it is the responsibility of members of ICCAT to put into force ICCAT resolutions and recommendations. As noted earlier in this report, fisheries management and particularly monitoring in Ghana requires strengthening in its application, following the improved framework established in MOFAD and the FC, and support from the ICCAT, other regional organisations, and donor-supported projects and programmes, are all-important for Ghana given the current limitations in human capacity as well as its important position as a flag, port, coastal and market state in respect to fisheries.

Although catches of tuna in the EAO have remained stable for the last decade, ICCAT has assessed that only the skipjack stocks are ‘not probably’ overfished and ‘not probably’ subject to overfishing, while the bigeye stock was assessed as being overfished and overfishing was occurring and the yellowfin stock as overfished but not subject to overfishing: 69 % of the average annual catch by the EU fleet in the EAO for the period 2010-2014 were yellowfin tuna (see section 5.2.3.1). This indicates, above all else that all parties have a vital interest in ensuring the sustainability of the tuna stocks and in building partnerships to enhance management capacities in Ghana and regionally to help foster good governance, continued developments in science and monitoring, implementation of fisheries policy, developments in MCS and the eradication of IUU fishing.

Ghana needs to harness as many potential economic, social and nutritional benefits as possible from their fishery sector to help overcome their development challenges through fisheries-led economic growth. These may include earnings from selling access to vessels, benefits from upstream and downstream business generated from vessels calling at Tema port and from the canning factories. Social benefits, in terms of the employment related to the sector and food and nutrition security are also important considerations for Ghana. For the EU, sustainability is needed to comply with, and support, the objective of the reformed CFP and other policies such as ocean governance and to ensure long-term sustainable stocks for the EU fleet to exploit and for the EU consumer to consume.

Although there are discrepancies in the various sources of information on tuna catch in Ghana’s EEZ, it appears that the large fleet of Ghanaian-registered vessels catch mainly skipjack tuna, which is associated with high FAD use, while the foreign-registered vessels catch mainly yellowfin, which is associated with free school catches. This supply of larger yellowfin tuna to the canneries was reported to be historically the reason for opening the fishery to foreign vessels and was viewed as a valid argument for continuing this from the cannery perspective.

There is also a need for Ghana to protect the ability of their local fleet to exploit the tuna resources, and at times of severe pressure on the stocks ensure sufficient tuna for the local fishery. However, as the EU vessels are likely to continue to seek licences to fish in Ghana’s EEZ if no SFPA is concluded, the value of closer relationships between the EU, representing 80 % of the foreign fleet in Ghana and the government is likely to provide improved monitoring and fuller understanding of the situation to the benefit of foreign and local fleets.

The EAO is one of the main regions for the EU's fishing fleet and freely following the stocks between jurisdictions and into the high seas is essential to the EU fleet. A potential SFPA with Ghana would play an important part in securing longer-term access for EU purse seiners to the EEZ of Ghana. The potential for developing regional approaches within the network of SFPAs in West Africa is considered worthy of


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consideration, including coherent cost of access, approaches to embarking coastal states crew and observers, and approaches to VMS, AIS and ERS.

7.2 Key findings and conclusions about the two options considered by the ex ante evaluation

This report has completed an ex ante evaluation of two possible policy interventions, or options, in line with the EU financial regulation. Option 1 is ‘no SFPA and to leave individual vessel owners or their representative organisations to negotiate access to Ghana’s EEZ'. Option 2 is ‘an SFPA with fishing opportunities for around 13 purse seine vessels, with financial contributions for access and sectoral support, and with a Joint Committee to oversee implementation. While there are some risks related to option 2, such as low value for money provided by EU funds if utilisation of fishing opportunities is low, the overall objectives of sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources, transparency, monitoring and control of the tuna fishery, financial stability and legal certainty for EU operators, enhanced cooperation between the EU and Ghana (including at the regional and ICCAT level) and human rights and democratic principles would be more likely to be achieved than under option 1. This is primarily because of the added value associated with EU involvement under option 2. Option 2 would ensure that conditions of access are coherent with CFP reform and the ocean governance policy, that sectoral support funding is provided to Ghana, and that monitoring of the SFPA would be performed by a Joint Committee. Ensuring that access provided to EU vessels is based on SFPAs rather than private agreements is also consistent with the long-term thinking of the EU that SFPAs are preferable to private access agreements signed by Member State fleets. Finally, given that exploitation of catches in a sustainable manner is the fundamental underpinning for long-term economic and social benefits for both parties, option 2 should be the preferred option.


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8 References

EU legislation

Communication from the Commission to the European parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions on the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, COM(2011) 424 final, of 13.7.2011

Consolidated versions of EU legal texts presented below are available on the European website EUR-Lex118.

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002.

Commission Delegated Regulation of 29.10.2012 on the rules of application of Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 of 29 September 2008 concerning authorisations for fishing activities of Community fishing vessels outside Community waters and the access of third country vessels to Community waters.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1185/2003 of 26 June 2003 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels.

Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 of 20 December 2007 applying the arrangements for products originating in certain states which are part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States provided for in agreements establishing, or leading to the establishment of, Economic Partnership Agreements

Other references used

African Economic outlook Ghana country report, 2015 Found at: http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/african-economic-outlook/

Ateweberhan, M., Gough, C., Fennelly, L., and Frejaville, Y. 2012. Nearshore Rocky Reefs of Western Ghana, West Africa: Baseline ecological research surveys. Blue Ventures Conservation, London, United Kingdom. 104 pp. Found at: https://blueventures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/nearshore-rocky-reefs-western-ghana-survey.pdf [accessed 2016, May 19]

Badjeck, M.-C., Perry, A., Renn, S., Brown, D. & Poulain, F. 2013. The vulnerability of fishing-dependent economies to disasters. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular No. 1081. Rome, FAO. 19 pp

Coastal Resources C 5). The USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project ear 1 Work Plan, October 22, 2014 – September 30, 2015. Narragansett, R Resources Center, Graduate School of Oceanography, Univ. Rhode Island. PW002. 110p. Found at: http://www.crc.uri.edu/download/GH14_PW002_YearOneWorkPlan_508.pdf [accessed 2016, May 16]

COFREPECHE, POSEIDON, MRAG et NFDS, 2013. Revue des pêcheries thonières dans l’océan Atlantique Est (Contrat cadre MARE/2011/01 - Lot 3, contrat spécifique n° 5). Bruxelles, 85 p

Council of the European Union, ‘Council conclusions on the Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015–2020’, 2015, March 16, www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/fac/2015/03/st07168_en15_pdf/. [2016, May 17]

118 http://eur-lex.europa.eu


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EC press release, 2013 November 26. European Commission intensifies the fight against illegal fishing. Found at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1162_en.htm [accessed 2016, May 26]

EC press release, 2015 October 1. Fighting illegal fishing: Commission warns Taiwan and Comoros with yellow cards and welcomes reforms in Ghana and Papua New Guinea. Found at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5736_en.htm [accessed 2016, May 24]

Edward H. Allison, Allison L. Perry, Marie-Caroline Badjeck, Neil L. Andrew and Nicholas K. Dulvy, 2009. Vulnerability of national economies to the impacts of climate change on fisheries Found at: http://www.uba.ar/cambioclimatico/download/Allison%20et%20al%202009.pdf [2016, April 25]

European Parliament’s report on the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, of 22.11.2012

European Union, Trade in goods with Ghana. Found at: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_122461.pdf [accessed 2016, April]

Elaine T. Lawson, Christopher Gordon, Wolfgang Schluchterb, 2012. The dynamics of poverty–environment linkages in the coastal zone of Ghana, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 67, October 2012, Pages 30–38.

FAO Ghana profile, 2007. Found at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/k7480b/k7480b03.pdf [accessed 2016, May 24]

FAO Ghana fisheries country profile, updated 2016. Found at: http://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/GHA/en [accessed 2016, May 24]

F.K.E. Nunoo, B. Asiedu, K. Amador, D. Belhabib and D. Pauly 2014, Reconstruction of Marine Fisheries Catches for Ghana, 1950-2010, Working Paper #2014 – 13, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia

Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) 2014 August. Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/glss6/GLSS6_Main%20Report.pdf [accessed 2016, May 26]

Ghana Statistical Service, May, 2013. 2010 Population & Housing Census, National Analytical Report. Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010phc/National_Analytical_Report.pdf

Ghana Statistical Service, 2015. Revised 2014 Annual Gross Domestic Product. Found at: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/GDP/GDP2015/Annual_2014_GDP_Rev2_June_2015%20edition.pdf

Government of Côte d’Ivoire, Request for the prescription of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, under article 290, Paragraph 1, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Found at: at: https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/case_no.23_prov_meas/C23_Request_prov_measures_translation_Reg.pdf

Government of Ghana, 2014a, The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017

Government of Ghana, 2014b. Found at: http://www.presidency.gov.gh/coord.pdf

Houghton, R.W. and M.A. Mensah, 1978, Physical Aspects and Biological Consequences of the Ghana and Coastal Upwelling. In Upwelling Ecosystem.

Human Development Report 2015. Briefing note for Ghana. Found at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/GHA.pdf [accessed 2016, February 11]

ICC & IMB, ‘Piracy and armed robbery against ships: Report for the period of 1 January–31 December 2013’, 2014; ICC the period of 1 January–31 December 2014’, 2015, & IMB, ‘Piracy and armed robbery against ships:

Joint War Committee, ‘Hull war, piracy, terrorism, and related perils: Listed areas’, 12 June 2013

Macfadyen, G and Attah-Mensah, K. 2014. Component 2: Organisational Capacity Review. Final Report. Produced for the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development by a consortium of Poseidon, Innovative


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Services and GIMPA Consulting as part of the Legal, Operational & Organizational Framework to Enable Implementation of the Ghana Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Development Plans component of the ‘West Africa Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP).

MOFAD Annual Performance Audit, 2013.

Workshop and Meeting Report ‘West Africa Regional Collaboration for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS)’ and ‘Towards a Sustainable Tuna Fishery in the Coastal States of the West Africa Sub Region’. The Bureau of National Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture supported by the West Africa Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP) Liberia, October 30 – November 2, 2012, Golden Gate Hotel, S.K.D. Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia

Rebecca Welling, Megan Cartin, Désiré Baykono and Ousmane Diallo, 2012. Water And Nature Initiative (WANI) Case Study Volta river basin: Ghana and Burkina Faso https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2012-010.pdf [accessed 2016, May 27]

Regional Fishery Bodies Summary Descriptions: Committee on Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture of Africa (CIFAA), Found at: http://www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/cifaa/en [accessed 2016, May 26]

Republic of Ghana. Maritime Zones (Delimitation) Act, 1986. Found at: http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha1193.pdf

UICN/PACO 2010. Parks and reserves of Ghana: Management effectiveness assessment of protected areas. Ouagadougou, BF: UICN/PACO. Found at: https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/edocs/2010-073.pdf

United Nations, 1995, Agreement for the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks

World Population Review, 2016. Found at: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/ghana-population/


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Annexes

Annex A: currency exchange rates

Table 8.1: currency exchange rates used in this report

EUR exchange rate

(1 EUR =) 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

USD 1.2384 1.4272 1.2438 1.2944 1.3638 1.0896 1.1006

GHS 1.7725 2.1437 2.3262 2.5601 3.9395 4.3389 4.2998

Rates at year mid-point (30 June) apart from 2016 which was 1 March Source: Inforeuro119

119 http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm.


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Annex B: list of acronyms/abbreviations

ABFA Annual Budgetary Fund Allocation

ABNJ Area beyond National Jurisdiction

ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific

AFDB African Development Bank

AIS Automatic Identification System

ANABAC Asociación Nacional de Armadores de Buques Atuneros Congeladores

APR Annual Performance Report

ATLAFCO Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic

AU African Union

CECAF Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic

CFP Common Fisheries Policy

CIFAA The Committee on Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture of Africa

COREP Fisheries Committee of the Gulf of Guinea

DG MARE Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

DG Santé Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety

EAO East Atlantic Ocean

EC European Commission

ECA European Court of Auditors

ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone

EMS Electronic Monitoring Systems

EPA Economic Partnership Agreement

EU European Union

EUR Euro

FAD Fish Aggregation Devices

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

FC Fisheries Commission

FCWC Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea

FDF Fisheries Development Fund

FEU Fisheries Enforcement Unit

FLIS Fishermen Life Insurance Scheme

FMC Fisheries Monitoring Centre

FPA Fisheries Partnership Agreement

FSSD Fisheries Scientific Survey Division

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GGC Gulf of Guinea Commission

GHS Ghanaian Cedi

GNADP Ghana National Aquaculture Development Plan


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GNI Gross National Income

GoG Government of Ghana

GSGDA Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda

GSP Generalised System of Preferences

GSTP Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries

HDI Human Development Index

HF High frequency

ICCAT International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

ICFG Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance

IEZ Inshore Exclusive Zone

IMB International Maritime Bureau

IMR Institute of Marine Research

INFOPECHE Intergovernmental Organization for Marketing and Cooperation Services for Fishery Products in Africa

ITLOS International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUU Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated

IWC International Whaling Commission

kg kilogramme

km kilometre

kva kilo-volt amp

m metres

MAR Market Access Regulation

MCS Monitoring, Control and Surveillance

MFAC Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee

MFN Most Favoured Nation

MoFAD Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

MoU Memorandum of Understanding

MPA Marine Protected Area

MCSD Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Division

MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield

MTDP Medium Term Development Plan

NDC National Democratic Congress

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development

NGO Non-governmental organisation

NIP National Indicative Programme

NPOA National Plan of Action

NPP New Patriotic Party

NSC National Steering Committee

OAU Organisation of African Unity

OPAGAC Organización de Productores Asociados de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores

ORTHONGEL Organisation de Producteurs de Thon Congelé


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PAC Pilot Aquaculture Centre

PSMA Port State Measures Agreement.

R/V Research vessel

REC Regional Economic Community

RFB Regional Fisheries Body

RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

RIP Regional Indicative Programme

SCRS The Standing Committee on Research and Statistics

SFMP Sustainable Fisheries Management Project

SFPA Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement

SRFC Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission

t tonne(s)

TAC Total Allowable Catch

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNFSA United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

UNTOC United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

USA United States of America

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USD United States dollar

VBA Volta Basin Authority

VHF Very high frequency

VMS Vessel Monitoring System

WARFP West African Regional Fisheries Project

WATF West Africa Task Force

WFC Work in Fishing Convention

WRI Water Research Institute

WWF World Wide Fund for Nature


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Annex C: consulted organisations

The consultants are grateful to all stakeholders who shared their time, thoughts, information and data with the consulting team, which completed this specific contract.

Table 8.2: organisations consulted in Europe

Organisation Department position

European Commission

DG MARE

B3 - Bilateral agreements and Fisheries control in International Waters. B2 – Trade and Markets A1 – Fisheries Control Policy

DG DEVCO E2. Development Coordination and Regional Cooperation - West Africa

European External Action Service Delegation to Ghana Attaché

Spain - ANABAC (professional organization representing Spanish shipowners, Director Spain - CEPESCA - Spanish Fishing Confederation Secretary General Spain - OPAGAC (Spanish professional organization representing EU purse seine owners and shipowners fishing or not fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean)

Director

France - ORTHONGEL - French organization for frozen tuna producers Director (and representative of member firms of ORTHONGEL)

France - CNPMEM (National committee of maritime fisheries and mariculture) Coordinator of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector, Fisheries and Distant Mediterranean

France - Union of Shipowners of the French fishing Director France - SOVETCO (marketing of tuna) Logistics and Sales Manager

France - Department of Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA) Sub-Directorate of Fisheries Resources: Office of European and International Affairs

NGO - WWF Director NGO – Stop Illegal Fishing Coordinator Table 8.3: organisations consulted in Ghana


Environmental Protection Agency Strategic Environmental Assessment

Fisheries Commission Ghana

Chairman

Deputy Director

Director of Fisheries

Directors and staff of all major divisions

Ghana Navy National Co-ordinator of Fisheries Enforcement Unit / Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee member (MFAC)

Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

Minister

Fisheries Commission staff, FEU, research, EU catch certification, licencing, planning etc.

Ministry of Food & Agriculture West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme

Ghana Maritime Authority Director General

Ghana ports and Harbour authority General Manager Operations

Agnespark Fisheries Managing Director (Exec member of Ghana Tuna Association)

Casico Limited CEO

Continental Exports (GH) Ltd Director

D.H. Fisheries CO. LTD Ghana Tuna Association

Dakomer Seafoods Limited Manager production


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Dibona Limited Managing Director

Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA) Coordinator

Ghana Tuna Association President (MFAC member)

Secretary

Panofi Fishing Company, Ltd Managing Director

Pioneer Food Cannery Limited General Manager

Rico Seafood Enterprises Ltd Owner

Trust Allied Fishing Ventures Business Executive

Welseas Africa Limited CEO

USAID Ghana Environmental Specialist

Conservation Foundation Ghana Project Manager

Friends of the Nation Executive Director

Programmes coordinator

Ghana Employers Association President

Ghana Federation of Labour Secretary General

Ghana ROCHA Project Manager Science & Conservation

Green Advocacy Ghana Founder/Executive Director

HATOF Foundation Ghana Founder (MFAC member)

Hen Mpoano Director

National Fisheries Association of Ghana ( Industrial ) National president (Board member of Fisheries Commission)

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Head of ECOWAS National Office Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) Secretariat

The FAO Office Fisheries Adviser The EAF-Nansen Project ‘Strengthening the Knowledge Base for and Implementing an Ecosystem Approach to Marine Fisheries’

Cruise leader to survey in Ghana

West African Regional Fisheries Project National Coordinator

Sustainable fisheries management programme Project Leader

West Africa Task Force Coordinating Team


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Annex D: maritime borders

With Côte d’Ivoire There is a significant area of Ivorian EEZ of about 30 000 km2 claimed by Ghana but disputed by Côte d’Ivoire (see Figure 1.2b). Ghana had not negotiated and agreed the precise co-ordinates of its maritime boundaries with Côte d’Ivoire, or Togo and other countries to the east. The importance of doing so arose as a result of the discovery of oil in the maritime boarder area with Côte d’Ivoire120.

Following 10 proposes the kind of negotiated settlement achievable between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which took its claim to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in September 2014 as Case No. 23. A Special Chamber of the ITLOS was appointed to rule on the case. Ghana submitted its statement of case (a memorial) on 4 September 2015. Côte d’Ivoire has until 4 April 2016 to file its detailed defence (its counter-memorial). Ghana then has until 4 July 2016 to submit a reply to Côte d’Ivoire’s counter-memorial and Côte d’Ivoire is expected to file a rejoinder by 4 October 2016. The oral hearing by the ITLOS is scheduled to commence in February 2017 and the decision by the court is not expected before 2018.

In April 2015 Côte d’Ivoire submitted a request to the Special Chamber for a ruling regarding its call for a cessation of all activities by Ghana in the disputed area until the substantive case is heard. Although Côte d’Ivoire had not yet submitted its counter memorial at the time of writing, in its request for provisional measures it presented a map (Figure 1.2 (b) in this report) depicting the two countries’ claims to what constitutes the maritime boundary. Coordinates were not provided. Ghana’s proposed maritime boundary is presented as an equidistant line, the accuracy of the calculation of which Côte d’Ivoire disputes. Côte d’Ivoire presents its proposed boundary line as one which takes account of the relevant circumstances of the case and allows an equitable solution to be achieved121.

With Togo

Ghana does not have a negotiated and agreed maritime border with Togo and with other eastern neighbours, although Ghana declared its intention to initiate negotiations in 2014. At the time of writing, no evidence could be found that Ghana was in dispute over the eastern maritime border with any of its eastern neighbours. It is, however, possible that a dispute could emerge or has emerged due to the topography of the eastern part of the Gulf of Guinea coastline and different methods of calculating maritime borders122. These differences can be considerable as illustrated in Figure 8.1 and Figure 8.2 of this Annex, which show contrasting differences in how the EEZs could be delimited permitting plenty of scope for dispute.

120 Paragraph 6: Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Request. 2015. for the prescription of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, under article 290, Paragraph 1, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 121 Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Request. 2015. 122 Different methods of delimiting maritime border between adjacent and opposite states are discussed by Nugzar Dundua, 2007. Delimitation of maritime boundaries between adjacent States. United Nations found at: http://www.un.org/depts/los/nippon/unnff_programme_home/fellows_pages/fellows_papers/dundua_0607_georgia.pdf


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Figure 8.1: map of the EEZs of eastern Gulf of Guinea as presented by VLIZ (2012)

Source: Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase, version 7123

Figure 8.2: alternative interpretation of EEZ boundaries in the eastern Gulf of Guinea

Source: published in Offshore magazine of the Offshore Learning Center, Houston 01/10/2001 by Alan Perry, a Partner in the Public International Law Group of D J Freeman, London 124

123 Available online at http://www.marineregions.org/ consulted on 6th April 2013. Key: red lines indicate 200 nm, purple indicates negotiated line or mid line, green indicates a non-negotiated mid line [2013, April 20] 124 http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-61/issue-10/news/cross-boundary-unitization-makes-some-gulf-of-guinea-fields-economic.html


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Annex E: methodology for calculating the estimates of tuna catches in the EEZ of Ghana

The estimates are based on the public domain TASK2 data by 1° squares per month obtained from the ICCAT data base. The EEZ geographical limits of the Ghanaian EEZ have been obtained from the VLIZ database and they do not take into account the disputed area discussed in Section 1.1.1. For squares where the boundary of the EEZ exists, the percentage of the square inside the EEZ was calculated as shown in Figure 8.3. These were then used to calculate the baseline estimates of tuna catches in the EEZ of Ghana assuming that tuna catches in these squares were distributed proportionally to the surface area of each 1° square as shown in Figure 8.2.

Figure 8.3: percentage of the 1° squares that fall within the EEZ of Ghana

The same baseline estimates have been calculated for all EEZs in the offshore areas in the Eastern Atlantic as given in Section 2.5.4.

In addition of the baseline estimates of catches, two other series of potential catches during the 1990 to 2014 period in the Ghanaian EEZ were also calculated. These were for a minimal EEZ catch, which assumes that all catches in the 1° square at a boarder of the EEZ were caught outside of it, and a maximal EEZ catch, which assumes that all catches in the 1° square at a boarder of the EEZ were caught within the EEZ.

The analysis has been primarily focused to estimate the catches by the EU flag purse seiners (Spanish and French). Estimates of catches by fishing method and by species are given for this EU fleet. Two additional series of estimated catches are the catches by purse seiners associated to the EU fleets (Spanish owned vessels that are fishing under various flags) and catches by Ghanaian vessels (purse seiners and pole and line vessels).

It is noted that 2014 is the latest year with data available as the 2015 data was not available for the Spanish fleet. Also it is noted that the Ghanaian data are not yet available in the ICCAT data base by 1° squares during 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

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1 0 0 9 7

1 0 0 7 3

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1 54 64 92 3

1 0 01 0 01 0 07 1

1 0 01 0 01 0 05 1

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1 0 01 0 01 0 01 0 0


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Annex F: estimated catches by EU purse seine vessels in the ICCAT

Table 8.4: estimated catches by EU purse seine vessels in the ICCAT area 1995 to 2014 (t)

Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Total catch within EEZs 51 339 49 941 37 922 43 810 68 982 57 101 41 164 27 971 67 787 46 365 24 810 20 973 Total catch in ICCAT area 149 593 134 775 107 645 108 201 116 148 110 414 112 629 108 071 120 477 101 390 69 087 54 878 % caught within EEZs 34 37 35 41 59 52 37 26 56 46 36 38 Angola 3 2 1 15 1 190 3 223 63 - 11 594 360 - 1 376 Benin - 3 - - 137 1 023 72 322 - 13 66 23 Cameron 299 84 93 87 1 40 21 - - - 98 - Cape Verde 372 1 181 3 883 1 486 4 630 676 2 311 593 1 056 950 250 2 Congo 12 3 213 17 2 081 801 5 188 1 552 368 3 080 1 291 190 11 Cote d'Ivoire 7 366 4 983 6 571 3 757 8 069 5 665 6 420 1 961 8 570 4 799 2 016 2 409 DRC - 1 464 - 396 289 2 359 88 - 2 623 58 - 48 Equatorial Guinea 3 068 7 349 2 744 5 253 6 211 2 545 3 474 3 910 5 310 3 786 3 040 4 577 Gabon 7 357 14 103 3 365 6 794 10 738 8 973 6 509 5 274 9 123 11 908 6 852 4 616 Gambia 1 697 189 96 42 558 20 342 12 275 102 134 112 Ghana 3 268 2 039 2 844 2 467 5 161 4 862 2 491 3 378 4 376 6 492 2 012 258 Guinea Bissau 2 656 813 817 1 349 1 367 1 172 897 544 1 040 265 1 371 1 517 Guinea Conakry 2 443 1 235 736 1 343 1 752 3 197 3 856 3 634 2 824 3 035 1 575 765 Liberia 4 694 7 074 3 922 5 231 4 845 5 711 3 105 2 466 6 185 2 146 2 338 2 113 Mauritania 2 752 2 109 10 463 11 306 9 770 6 112 1 847 350 3 664 5 398 1 784 979 Nigeria 58 40 31 24 97 799 1 154 2 197 529 317 536 141 Senegal 15 225 2 387 1 330 1 774 11 807 2 145 4 041 147 2 119 2 556 1 926 246 Sierra Leone 67 1 670 1 008 404 1 411 3 257 2 882 2 521 5 400 2 861 543 1 775 Togo - 3 1 - 148 134 40 293 17 28 80 4


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Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 average catch

average % of total catch

Size of EEZ in km2

Total catch within EEZs 19 487 32 755 31 211 43 140 48 142 50 229 58 454 51 333 38 053

Total catch in ICCAT area 51 641 75 981 95 092 101 364 109 850 106 186 113 647 101 879

% caught within EEZs 38 43 33 43 44 47 51 50

Angola 316 2 205 734 1372 7 401 5 319 8 402 7 195 3 432 3.90 518433 Benin - - - - 2 - - 18 11 0.01 33221 Cameron - - - - 28 - - - 13 0.01 16547 Cape Verde 741 196 623 542 396 2 397 4 543 6 814 1650 1.88 800561 Congo 154 408 26 484 518 40 293 50 217 0.25 31017 Cote d'Ivoire 3 389 2 846 3 847 3 493 2 274 4 253 2 823 1 022 2837 3.23 176254 DRC 18 12 10 17 357 47 44 20 57 0.07 1606 Equatorial Guinea 2 035 4 818 3 952 4 096 2 117 2 253 4 542 2166 3360 3.82 303509 Gabon 3 640 9 470 7 580 17 124 16 668 65 8 608 16 525 9115 10.36 202790 Gambia - 3 - - 11 1 3 62 33 0.04 23112 Ghana 1 402 1 543 4 394 6 732 3 417 2 836 3 284 2,619 2850 3.24 235349 Guinea Bissau 1 109 1 827 224 1 324 2 763 1 014 607 310 1207 1.37 123725 Guinea Conakry 1 940 1 746 1 924 458 2 107 7 076 6 061 163 2382 2.71 59426 Liberia 1 841 4 735 5 929 4 292 5 796 1 575 342 757 2972 3.38 249734 Mauritania 310 163 - - - 18 781 17 763 10 852 5063 5.76 165338 Nigeria 57 37 19 10 2 8 1 29 84 0.10 217313 Senegal 428 48 180 106 42 645 275 384 428 0.49 158861 Sierra Leone 2 085 2 687 1 771 2 886 4 237 3 846 861 2 321 2301 2.62 215611 Togo 21 11 - 204 6 75 - 25 43 0.05 12045 Total size of all EEZs in km2 3 544 452 Average catch all EEZs in tonnes per km2 0.0107 Average catch Ghana’s EEZ in tonnes per km2 0.0121 Average catch all EEZs in tonnes per km2 excluding Gabon & Mauritania 0.0067 Source: obtained by consultants from the ICCAT data base, applying the baseline estimates of tuna catches (see Annex E)


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Annex G: key strategic interventions and expected outputs from the MTDP by 2017

The main expected outcomes resulting from the implementation of the proposed Action Plan include:

1. Aquaculture Development (i) 120 000 t of fish annually. (ii) 900 direct job opportunities created. (iii) 20-35 % increase in private sector investment in the fishing industry. (iv) 3 Public hatcheries made functional to augment aquaculture production. (v) Zonation of inland water bodies into potential aquaculture production zones to attract

private investment. (vi) 10-20 % reduction in the importation of fish and fishery products. (vii) 15-20 % reduction in national fish consumption deficit. (viii) 10 % increase in domestic fish production.

2. Sustainable Fisheries Resource Management (i) 10 % reduction in fishing efforts through vessel and canoe registration/licensing and

management. (ii) Marine stock assessment survey and database established. (iii) 2-5 % reduction in marine resource depletion through the alignment of stock to fishing

efforts. (iv) 10 % increase in community participation in Fisheries Resource Management. (v) 5-15 % increase in overall Sustainable Management of Fisheries Resources.

3. Fisheries Law Enforcement (i) 40-70 % compliance with Fisheries Law and Regulations through expansion of Vessel

Monitoring System (VMS). (ii) Over 50 % reduction in IUU activities (Marine and Inland). (iii) 60 % reduction in adjudication period of fisheries law infractions, resulting from capacity

enhancement (training) of 80 judges and prosecutors. (iv) 40-60 % increase in community participation to fisheries law enforcement.

4. Aquatic Animal Health and Post –harvest Management (i) 10 % increase in biosecurity measures and compliance with fish health and sustainable

procedures. (ii) 2-5 % increase in value addition in the Fish Production Chain. (iii) 5 % reduction in post-harvest losses. (iv) Database established on aquatic environment. (v) Early Warning Systems established to enhance fish disease control.

5. Fisheries Infrastructure Development (i) A Fisheries College at Anomabo completed and operationalized as an educational fishing

hub in the West African sub-region. (ii) Ten landing sites developed at selected fishing communities to enhance value addition. (iii) Turnkey Fish Processing Plant at Elmina and six (6) Cold Chain Facilities operationalized

to reduce post-harvest losses. (iv) Fisheries Laboratory at Tema and ten (10) regional fishery offices rehabilitated.

6. Institutional Capacity Enhancement and Management (i) MOFAD Office Complex completed to enhance productivity of staff. (ii) Four line Directorates of MOFAD are functional. (iii) 20-30 % increase in management and operational efficiency and effectiveness.


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Annex H: FCWC legal framework overview

Ghana is Party to and active in the RFB, FCWC and is participating in the WATF. The legal framework of the FCWC was recently reviewed by the WATF and the following is extracted from this review. The 2007 Convention for the establishment of the FCWC is the founding treaty of the organization, whereby member States agree to cooperate “with a view to ensuring, though appropriate management, the conservation and optimal utilisation of the living marine resources” in the waters under their jurisdiction “and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such resources” (article 5, paragraph 1). The FCWC has the mandate to, inter alia: harmonize fisheries legislation and regulations among member States; strengthen sub-regional cooperation in fisheries MCS and enforcement, including the progressive development of common procedures; enhance cooperation in respect of relations with distant water fishing countries; and promote the development of standards for the collection, exchange and reporting of fisheries data. The FCWC framework includes two other binding agreements, namely the 2013 Convention on Minimum Requirements for Access to the Fishery Resources of the Area of the FCWC, which outlines areas for harmonisation related to licensing, access, registers, technical measures, reporting and enforcement, and the 2014 Convention on the Pooling and Sharing of Information and Data on Fisheries in the Zone of the FCWC, which provides for the establishment of a joint database and information system including information and data on MCS, and the creation of a sub-regional register of vessels engaged in fishing in the FCWC area, including carrier and support service vessels. In addition, a Regional Plan of Action on IUU fishing (RPOA-IUU) was prepared in 2009 by FCWC. The plan includes provisions for the development of harmonized national and regional MCS systems, as well as on the responsibility of flag States, coastal States, port States and market States. The four instruments mentioned above contain a number of provisions requiring domestication into national legal frameworks. For the purpose of assessing the level of domestication in each member country, such provisions may be summarized as follows:

1) Ratification of treaties, including international and regional instruments, as well as membership in relevant organizations;

2) Fisheries management measures and plans implementing international principles and standards for the sustainable management of national and shared stocks;

3) Control of artisanal fishing through registration, reporting, consultation and sanctions; 4) Establishment of licensing systems by coastal States for national and foreign industrial vessels

fishing in their waters and by flag States for national vessels fishing on the high seas; 5) Registration of industrial fishing vessels by flag States and set up of a register of licensed

vessels by coastal States for national and foreign industrial vessels authorized to fish in their waters and by flag States for national vessels authorized to fish on the high seas;

6) Collection and sharing of information and data from fishing vessels, including though satellite monitoring systems and observers, and set up of electronic information systems, registers and logbooks;

7) Market-related measures, namely traceability of fish products and organization of wholesale fish merchants;

8) Effectiveness of law enforcement by conferring appropriate powers to inspectors and by ensuring inter-institutional coordination between relevant authorities; and

9) Effectiveness of sanctions, including by providing for different types of penalties (administrative, financial, commercial and criminal).


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Annex I: proposed allocation of functions required to implement the MTDP

Table 8.5: proposed allocation of functions required to implement the MTDP

Function Primary responsibility Secondary responsibility

Functions not specific to individual Development Plan policy areas and targets e.g., cross-cutting

Fisheries and aquaculture policy development

Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

Volta River Authority

Applied research and data collection

Fisheries Commission Water Research Institute, Universities

Strong corporate management of the Fisheries Commission

Chief Executive of the Fisheries Commission Board of Commissioners

Fisheries Management Information System

Fisheries Commission

Engagement in international fora Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development


Policy Area 1 (Management of fisheries, conservation of aquatic resources and protection of their natural environment ) and Target 1

Vessel registration and flag state duties

Ghana Maritime Authority

Development of fisheries management plans

Fisheries Commission Communities, private sector stakeholders

Fishing vessel registration Fisheries Commission

Fishing vessel licensing Fisheries Commission (Licensing Committee – semi and industrial sectors)

Districts (artisanal licencing)

Administration of rights-based regimes as applicable (i.e. ITQs, TURFs) in industrial, semi-industrial and artisanal fisheries

Fisheries Commission Private sector organisations and communities

Training and extension to fishers on management and policy developments

Fisheries Commission Representative private sector organisations, training institutions, and NGOs

Fisheries observers to oversee activities on industrial and semi-industrial vessels at sea


Policy Area 2 (The promotion of value addition in the fisheries sector and the improvement of livelihoods in the fisheries communities ) and Targets 2 – 4

Decent working conditions on fishing vessels in accordance with ILO standards.

Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations

Enforcement of safety requirements of those on fishing vessels (e.g. vessel design/construction and safety equipment).

Ghana Maritime Authority Fisheries Commission

Extension in product development, market promotion, and value addition

Fisheries Commission Private sector and NGOs

Support provided for increased access to finance (i.e. to micro-finance for the artisanal sector, and more formal sources of capital for vessel and processing facility upgrading


Advice on food safety controls Fisheries Commission


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Function Primary responsibility Secondary responsibility

Regulatory control of food safety on fishing vessels and at landing sites/ports

Fisheries Commission Food and Drug Authority, Ghana Standards Authority

Origin controls on imports for IUU (and import restrictions)


Provision of competitive and high quality infrastructure and vessel support services for tuna vessels landing into Tema

Ghana Ports Authority

Policy Area 3 (The sustainable development of aquaculture) and Target 5

Applied research and data collection on aquaculture


Advice and extension to private sector


Origin controls on imports for fish health (and import restrictions)


Enforcement of fish/animal health and bio-security controls i.e. diagnosis, prevention and control

Fisheries Commission Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture

Licencing and permitting Fisheries Commission Water Resources Commission, Environmental Protection Authority, Veterinary Department

Policy Area 4 (The improvement of services provided to the sector by the Fisheries Commission and other supporting institutions) and Targets 6 – 7

Monitoring, control and surveillance for the prevention of IUU fishing

Fisheries Commission Communities and private sector through co-management arrangements

Application of regulatory administrative and criminal procedures, and the imposition of sanctions

Bureau of national investigations (Ministry of Interior), Marine Police, and Attorney General

Fisheries Enforcement Unit

Fulfilment of Ghana’s flag State obligations and adequate control over all Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessels

Ghana Maritime Authority Fisheries Commission

Port state controls Ghana Ports Authority Fisheries Commission

Sound and transparent management of the Fisheries Development Fund, of fisheries management budgets, and of related expenditures

Fisheries Commission and its Board

Rapid diagnostic testing laboratory services as support to field-based inspectors


Source: WARFP, 2015


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Annex J: sanctions to fisheries violations in Ghana and FCWC countries

Table 8.6: comparative table on sanctions to fisheries violations for Ghana and other FCWC countries

Violations Benin Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Liberia Nigeria Togo

Fishing without a license/ authorization or with an expired license/ authorization

EUR 15 000 -38 000

6-12 months in prison

EUR 150 -76 000

1-2 years in prison

(1st) EUR 900 000-1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M-3.6M + 6-month suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M-3.6M + withdrawal of license & deletion from ship registry

< EUR 900 000 + forfeiture of vessel, gear & catch + cancellation/ suspension of license

Without: EUR 227 000

5 years in prison + forfeiture of catch

Expired: EUR 232 + forfeiture of catch

National: EUR 38 – 7 600

1 month - 3 years in prison

Foreign: (TS) EUR 760 - 30 500

(EEZ) EUR 760 - 7 600 + seizure of catch

Fishing with unauthorized or illegal gear (including small mesh size) or methods

EUR 760 – 4 600


Illegal gear: EUR 760 – 15 000

8 days - 6 months in prison

Noxious substances: EUR 150 – 76 000

1-3 years prison

Illegal gear: (1st) EUR 900 000 – 1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M-3.6M + 6-month suspension of license


Noxious substances: (industrial/ semi-industrial vessels) EUR 227 000-1.8M + forfeiture of catch & gear

< EUR 227 000 + forfeiture of vessel, gear & catch + cancellation/ suspension of license

Illegal gear: EUR 232 Noxious substances: EUR 232 + 2 years in prison

Illegal gear/method: EUR 76 – 3 800

6 months - 4 years in prison

Unmarked/ non-prescribed use: EUR 38 – 7 600

1 months - 3 years prison

Noxious substances: EUR 150 – 7 600


Fishing in prohibited areas (including in areas reserved to artisanal fisheries)

EUR 760 – 4 600


EUR 760 – 15 000


1st) EUR 900 000 – 1.8M

(2nd EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + 6-month suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + withdrawal of license & deletion from ship registry

< EUR 45 000 + cancellation/ suspension of license

EUR 232 EUR 38 – 7 600


Use of forged documentation in relation to fishing activities

`n\a n/a (1st) EUR 900 000 – 1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + 6-month suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M –

n/a n/a n/a


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3.6M + withdrawal of license & deletion from ship registry

Provision of false, inaccurate or incomplete information on catch and fishing activities (knowingly w/ intent to deceive)

Non-compliance with duty to provide info: EUR 300 – 3 000


Non-compliance with duty to provide info: EUR 762 – 15 000


(1st) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M

(2nd EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + 6-month suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + withdrawal of license & deletion from ship registry

< EUR 9 000 EUR 232 n/a

Illegal transhipment of catch (including by-catch into canoes and sale of fish at sea)

EUR 760 – 4 600


n/a Industrial/ semi-industrial: EUR 90 000-1.8M + confiscation of catch

Tranship to IUU vessel: (1st) EUR 900 000 -1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M-3.6M + 6 month suspension of license


Unauthorized: < EUR 900 000 + forfeiture of vessel, gear, catch + cancellation/ suspension of license

Illegal operations: < EUR 450 000 + cancellation/ suspension of license

Breach of procedures: < EUR 45 000 + cancellation/ suspension of license

Discharging frozen fish in national waters without a licence:

EUR 227 000

5 years in prison + forfeiture of catch

(Same as fishing) National:

EUR 38 – 7 600M


Foreign: (TS) EUR 760-30 500M

(EEZ) EUR 760 – 76 000 + seizure of catch

Trading in illegal fish (knowingly purchasing, selling, importing or exporting fish caught illegally)

EUR 760 – 4 600


n/a (provisions on fraud & seizure of fish in case of breach)

Caught with noxious substances:

(by industrial/ semi-industrial vessels) EUR 227 000 – 1.8M

Undersized fish: (1st) EUR 900 000 – 1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + 6-month suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M – 3.6M + withdrawal of

n/a (seizure of fish in case of breach)

Undersized: EUR 232

Breach of measures: EUR 76 – 760

1-12 months prison

Undersized fish:

EUR 76 – 3 800


Protected species:

EUR 76 – 7 600



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license & deletion from ship registry

Targeting of unauthorized species (e.g. below minimum size/immature or valuable by-catch)

EUR 762 – 4 600


EUR 762 – 15 000


Mammals: EUR 45 000 – 900 000

Undersized/moratorium: (1st) EUR 900 000- 1.8M

(2nd) EUR 1.8M-3.6M + 6 months suspension of license

(3rd) EUR 1.8M -3.6 M + withdrawal of license & deletion from ship registry

Crustaceans with eggs: < EUR 45 000 + cancellation/ suspension of license

Undersized fish & crustaceans with eggs: EUR 232

Undersized fish: EUR 76 - 3 800


Protected species: EUR 38 – 7 600


Damage to artisanal gear by industrial fishing vessels or merchant vessels

n/a EUR 55 – 550

11 days – 3 months in prison

Within IEZ: EUR 4 500 - 90 000 + full compensation

Willful damage: (by industrial/ semi-industrial vessels) EUR 45 000 – 1.8M

< 2 years in prison + full compensation

< EUR 45 000 + compensation

EUR 232 + arbitration by Federal Department of Fisheries

n/a

Note: EUR values obtained by conversion rates 1EUR = CFA francs 655.957 and 1EUR= NGN 215.993, rates as of March 2016 from (http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/index_en.cfm)

Source: extracted from report to FCWC by WATF 2016


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Annex K: stakeholder institutions

Table 8.7: stakeholder institutions and their relationships with the Fisheries Commission

Stakeholder institution Functions and relationship to the Fisheries Commission

Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Gives approved policies adopted by the Ministry to the Commission for implementation.

Attorney-General

Will need to approve and potentially draft any legislative changes necessary resulting from the completion of this assignment and the WARFP more generally. Also have to advise on any contracts the Commission might need to sign. Involved with legal issues associated with the prosecution of offences detected by the FEU.

Bureau of national investigations (Min of Interior), Marine Police, and Attorney General

Liaison with Commission and FEU in relation to prosecutions following identification of infringements.

Navy (Ministry of Defence) Fisheries control and enforcement (in marine waters) and represented in the FEU.

Marine police (Ministry of Interior) Fisheries control and enforcement (in marine waters) and represented in the FEU.

Ghana Maritime Authority (Ministry of Transport)

Vessel licencing (registration/flagging) for semi-industrial and industrial sectors (marine) i.e. maintenance of the vessel register, ensuring vessel safety (of design and equipment).

Ghana Standards Authority (Ministry of Trade) & Food & Drug Authority (Ministry of Health)

Link with post-harvest unit in the Commission on sanitary issues.

Ministry of Agriculture Second vets to the Fish Health Unit in the Commission and responsible for animal/fish welfare.

Environmental Protection Authority (Ministry of Environment, Science & Innovation)

Main links with the Commission on EIAs for aquaculture and aquaculture guidelines. EPA links with Commission on any other coastal and inland developments with an impact on fisheries.

Water Resources Commission Role to manage all freshwater bodies to avoid conflict. Commission give aquaculture permits only when stakeholders have water usage rights from the WRC.

Water Research Institute

Claims to undertake research in all aspects of water resources (both living and non-living) of Ghana, to provide scientific and technical information needed for the sustainable development, utilization and management of the resource, in support of the socio-economic development of the country. Has a fisheries division that does research into aquaculture and inland fisheries and has a member on the Board of the Commission.

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (Ministry of Transport)

Responsible for monitoring vessel entries/exits, and imports. Strong link with the Commission therefore in terms of Ports States Measures (PSM).

Volta River Authority Link with the Commission on i) aquaculture as they have a mandate for the whole lake, and ii) potentially on transport of fish on the lake through their subsidiary Volta Lake Transport.

Government Universities

A number of universities provide training in fisheries and aquaculture issues, and members of the Commission also teach in universities and sit on relevant university committees. Examples include Cape Coast and its department of fisheries and aquatic science; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and its institute of natural resources; the University of Ghana and its fisheries and oceanography department; and the University of Natural Resources and Energy.

Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (Ministry of Agriculture)

Serve on the Commission Board. By policy 5% of all public irrigation schemes are supposed to be reserved for aquaculture. They manage reservoirs, so the Commission advise them on carrying capacities.


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Stakeholder institution Functions and relationship to the Fisheries Commission

Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning

Approval of government budgets, and disbursement of budget to the Commission. Approval and advice on donor projects.

Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority

The Customs Division is responsible for collection of Import Duty, Import VAT, Export Duty, Petroleum Tax, Import Excise and other taxes.

Ministry of Trade and Industry Responsible for international trade issues and relations, including those relevant for fisheries (e.g. World Trade Organisation, EU trade relationships, etc).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Oversees the country's foreign policy and international diplomacy.

Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations

International Labour Organisation (ILO) issues, and related Work in Fishing Convention. And labour laws in Ghana applicable to fishing sector.

Forestry Commission Potential relationship for the establishment and management of Marine National Parks, and land-based aquaculture farms.

Regional Coordinating Councils and District Assemblies

Decentralised government. The Fisheries Act specifies some particular roles of District Assemblies.

Private sector representative organisations

A large number of private sector organisations represent individual stakeholders which the Commission should be serving. They include:

• National Fisheries Association of Ghana (umbrella organisation and president on FC Board)

• Ghana National Canoe Fishermen council (marine) • Ghana National Inland Canoe Fishermen’s Council (inland) • Ghana Marine Fishing Officers Association • Ghana Industrial Trawler Association (marine) • Ghana Tuna Association (marine) • Ghana Inshore fishermen’s association (marine – semi-industrial sector)) • Fish farmer associations at regional levels • Ghana Aquaculture Association (at national level). • Aquaculture Advisory Group was specified in the sector plan, but not set up. • Premix Committees • Chief Fishermen at different landing sites

Civil society

Two key civil society organisations are identified with an advocacy role with respect to the Commission and MOFAD:

• Friends of the Earth; • Friends of the Nation.

However there are a range of other international and local NGOs that have an interest in working with the fisheries sector.

Source: Macfadyen, G and Attah-Mensah, K. (2014). Component 2: Organisational Capacity Review. Final Report. Produced for the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development by a consortium of Poseidon, Innovative Services and GIMPA Consulting as part of the Legal, Operational & Organizational Framework to Enable Implementation of the Ghana Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Development Plans component of the ‘West Africa Regional Fisheries Project (WARFP).

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