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.
