Average fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the west African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades.
When ocean waters warm they expand in volume, and this thermal expansion is now the source of almost half of all sea-level rise. Warmer ocean waters also hold less oxygen, creating a threat to all marine life. But for human populations that catch fish for a living, ocean warming becomes an acute threat when it results in fish stock migrations.
Chinese trawlers are occasionally fined for illegal practices in Ghana, but some fail to pay the fines and still do not lose their licence. This damaging non-enforcement of fishing laws is hard to understand, since the foreigners pay minimal taxes and licence fees, and most of the fish they catch are exported, adding almost nothing to national food supplies.
This is why, between 1960 and 2023, the leading coastal cities in Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire saw population increases of at least. Having more people on the coast increases commercial demand for fish consumption while providing the added labour needed to catch, process and market the fish.There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.Most traditional fishing communities will have to find new sources of income to survive.