The document summarizes the status and problems of overfishing of fish species in West Africa. It describes the fisheries in the Gulf of Guinea, which are managed by CECAF and have a variety of fish species. Between 2000-2009 total production was 3.2-4 million tonnes annually. However, some species like flounders and squids have declined by 40% since 2000. The management problems include a lack of accurate catch data, overcapacity of fleets, and insufficient monitoring and coordination between CECAF regions. Recommended measures include more research, reducing fleet sizes, improving monitoring, and increased coordination.

1. STATUS AND PROBLEMS OF
OVERFISHING OF FISH SPECIES IN WEST
AFRICA
BY
RICHMOND QUARTEY
MFRD, TEMA

2. ADMINISTRATION OF FISHERIES
IN THE GULF OF GUINEA
The Gulf of Guinea Fisheries Area-34 is managed by
 (CECAF) – Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries
under the umbrella of the FAO.
• Its coverage
 From Cape Spartel to the Congo River (and demarcated by
Latitude 36 degree N, Longitude 43 degree West and Lat. 7degree
S )

3. THE CECAF AREA

4. MEMBERSHIP OF CECAF
CECAF Membership is drawn from two sources:
• Coastal nations whose national waters and High seas fall within the
zone
• Other Non African countries called DWFNs i.e.
Distant Water Fishing Nations

5. AFRICAN COUNTRIES CONSTITUTING
CECAF
:
Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Dem. Rep. of the Congo,
Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, , Gabon, Gambia,
Ghana, , Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco
Nigeria, SaoTome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, , and Togo,

6. NON AFRICAN COUNTRIES FISHING
NATIONS IN CECAF (DWFNS)
Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania,
United States of America. , France Italy Greece European Union, Cuba,
Spain

7. THE RESOURCES OF THE GULF OF
GUINEA
The CECAF area is rich with a variety of species at every stratum of the
waters of the Gulf of Guinea.
Examples: Small pelagic – Anchovies, Sardinella, Mackerels….
Demersal species - Groupers, Snappers, Drums, Squids, Cuttlefish….

8. DEMERSALS
Roncador
Tongue sole
Red Snapper
Spotted burro
Doctorfish
Globefish
Pampano

9. DEMERSALS
Grouper
Seabream
Red Snapper
Fork-tail Snapper
Roncador Triggerfish
Black sole

10. 10
Barracuda
Frigate tuna
Big eye scad
Blue Marlin

11. 06/17/15MFRD
11
Cassava Fish
Cuttlefish
Burrito
Pink Shrimp
Caramote Prawn
Ribbon Fish
Red mullet
Red mullet
Red pandora

12. SMALL PELAGICS
12
Anchovy) Round sardine
Kingfish
Flat sardine
Bonito
Frigate mackerel
Ribbonfish

13. MFRD
13
Yellowfin
Skipjack
Bigeye
Skipjack
Bigeye

14. DESCRIPTION OF THE GUINEA CURRENT
ECOSYSTEM
The Guinea Current is a slow warm water current
that flows to the East along the Guinea coast of
West Africa. It has some similarity to the Equatorial
Counter Current in the India and Pacific coast.
Offshore it flows from East to West.
The Guinea Current is thought to be highly
stratified -hydrographically, productively and
trophodynamically
due to a thin layer of warm fresh tropical water at
the surface.

15. FLOW DIRECTIONS IN THE GUINEA
EQUATORIAL CURRENT

16. VIABILITY OF THE GULF CURRENT
There is a conjecture that the stratification of the upper
water column along the Guinea Current coast slows
down the rates of habitat degradation and may slow
down the rate of living marine resources depletion.

17. THE FISHERIES IN THE GULF OF GUINEA
All the member states of CECAF do some level of fishing
in the Gulf of Guinea.
However, the major players are :
Morocco, Senegal , Ghana, Nigeria and Mauritania, in
that order.

18. PRODUCTION LEVELS AMONG THE
CECAF MEMBERS

19. STATUS OF THE FISHERIES IN THE
GULF OF GUINEA
Between 2000 and 2009 total production in the CECAF
Area was between 3.2 to 4.0 million tonnes.
Within this period countries such as Morocco, Ghana,
Nigeria and Mauritania. exceeded an average catch of
150,000 tonnes per year.

20. PRODUCTION BY COUNTRIES IN CECAF

21. STATUS OF THE FISHERIES IN THE
GULF OF GUINEA 3
Among the main groups of species, 2007 saw a
decline in the small pelagic groups:
 herrings, sardines and anchovies.
However this group promptly recovered to its
average level at about 1.75 million tonnes per
year.

22. STATUS OF THE FISHERIES IN THE
GULF OF GUINEA 4
Miscellaneous coastal species like spiny
lobsters have increased since 2000.
Shrimp catches reached a peak around 75,000
tonnes per year in 2001 – 03 but in 2008
decreased to about 50,000 tonnes.

23. CATCH TRENDS OF SOME MAJOR
SPECIES

24. STATUS OF THE FISHERIES IN THE
GULF OF GUINEA 6
Two valuable groups showed marked decrease
over the past decade:
 (flounders, halibuts, soles);
 Squids
Their catches in 2009 were about 40% less than
those in 2000.
Half of the capture production of these groups
are caught in the north, statistical division
“Moroccan coastal” but decrease in the “Sahara
coastal “

25. FISHERIES PRODUCTION BY SPECIES
GROUPS

26. PRODUCTION TRENDS IN CECAF
AREAS
Towards the Gulf of Guinea, total catches in
statistical division “3.3 Sherbro” more than
doubled in the last ten years due to the great
increase in the quantities reported by Sierra
Leone
But production dropped in the Western Gulf of
Guinea by 42% in the decade.

27. TRENDS IN THE TARGETED
SPECIES

28. SPECIES PRODUCTION OVER 5
YEARS

29. PERCENTAGE CECAF PRODUCTION BY AREA

30. VESSELS THAT EXPLOIT THE RESOURCES
There are a large range of boats exploiting the
resources of the Gulf of Guinea.
They range from small crafts to very huge
carrier vessels.
They are classed into canoes, inshore boats,
seine boats, drift gillnetters, trawlers, purse
seiners , freezer trawlers and carrier vessels.

31. ARTISANAL CANOES
31
Artisanal Canoes

32. 06/17/15
32
MFRD
Inshore fleet

33. Tuna bait boat operation

34. Trawler fleet

35. TUNA BAIT BOATS
35

36. EXPLOIT
Tuna Purse seiner in operation

37. MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS OF CECAF
The management problems of CECAF are under
the following categories:
 Lack of Accurate records of production
Over Capacity in fleet size and numbers
 Ineffective Monitoring and Control activities
Lack of Coordination among CECAF regions
 Need for research across the CECAF region
Need to train managers and operators on data
acquisition

38. MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF CECAF
RESEARCH –More fishery surveys across the CECAF
Area are needed to provide accurate information on the
reproduction and distribution of the important
demersal stocks.
Also the need to work out means to undertake survey in
shallow waters previously not accessible to big
research vessels
More independent research surveys in the CECAF area
to enrich the assessment of the resources

39. MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF CECAF 2
OVERCAPACITY- Reduce the numbers and sizes of
industrial vessels and their equipment to reduce the
pressure on the stocks.
Measures should also be taken to introduce some sort
of licensing on the artisanal fleet to move away from
the current open access policy enjoyed by the sector

40. MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF CECAF 3
MONITORIN CONTROL & SURVEILLANCE –
Members states to enhance their MCS units to
carry out calibration exercises to assess
performance of the trawl nets; enforce mesh
size regulations, restrict vessels from operating
in prohibited areas and stop poaching

41. MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF CECAF 4
IMPROVED RECORDS ACQUISITION-
 Managers to be informed on the poor state of
the demersal stocks in the various countries so
they can implement the recommendation
formulated by the Working Groups
 Data collection to be improved and effort
made to collect data on species basis in the
artisanal and industrial fisheries

42. MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF CECAF 5
LACK OF CORDINATION AMONG CECAF REGIONS –
Carry out regular national and regional
scientific surveys covering the entire
distribution of the stocks to obtain more
reliable abundance indices for each stock
Organize regional seminars and workshop to
integrate the knowledge base of the regional
managers for coordinated effort on issues.