Analysis of Climate Variability Implications for Sardinella Fisheries in Ghana

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the years, marine fish production in Ghana has been on a downturn. The dwindling has been ascribed mainly to illegal fishing practices with less attention given to the possible effects of climate variability. This study sought to evaluate the impact of climatic variability on the sizes of Sardinella fish species, S. aurita and S. maderensis, captured by fishermen operating in Ghana‘s marine waters. The effect of climate variability on these fish stocks was evaluated through its effects on the strength of coastal upwelling as measured using changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and wind stress as proxies. The optimum length (22.6 cm) of S. aurita was found to be statistically significant with SST (P<0.0001), while an optimum length of 21.8 cm was also found for wind stress (P<0.0001). Also, local knowledge indicates that individual sizes of Sardinella species have decreased over the years (approx. 30 years). This finding confirms the results from the empirical aspects of the study. The results also show that the decrease in length of Sardinella species leads to low profitability of the fish trade, with its attendant impact on income. In conclusion, Sardinella fishery in Ghana is indeed collapsing and climatic variations due to sea surface temperature and wind stress are major contributing factors to the relatively smaller sizes of S. aurita landed in Ghana. This effect has implications for deepening poverty among local fishers and fish traders of these species. There is therefore the need to incorporate this impact of climate variability in fisheries management strategies in Ghana. It highlights the urgent need to consider these aspects of climate variability in adaptation planning in fishing communities for poverty alleviation in coastal areas of Ghana.