University of Cape Coast

Centre for Coastal Management

Project: Enhancing Cetacean Conservation in Ghana through Improved Data Management

Enhancing cetacean conservation in Ghana through improved data management, behavioral change advocacy and increased deterrence in fishing communities is a one-year project (March 2022 - February 2023) aimed at improving cetacean conservation through effective data management, behavioral change advocacy and increased deterrence in fishing communities across the fouror three (W/R, C/R and G/A) coastal regions of Ghana. The project is being implemented by the Friends of the Nation, and the University of Cape Coast with the support of the Marine Mammals Bycatch Solution and the Ocean Associates Incorporated.

Under this project, Ghana will for the first time have a real time cetacean bycatch and directed catch geo-tracking landings database which will host the collection of monthly quantitative data for monitoring the landings of cetaceans from across several fish landing sites covering all relevant fishing gear types. The project intends to leverage on trends from the data to institute behavioral change advocacy program targeting fishers along the cetacean value chain and influencing policy direction towards marine mammals conservation in Ghana and also provide learning opportunities for other West Africa Countries.

The project successfully developed the first ever cetacean database (https://Ceta Data.ucc.edu.gh) as a well as a mobile application (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gh.edu.ucc.dfas.cetadata) for the data collection, transmission, tracking and updating landings in real time with an inbuilt analytics. The project further established a fully functional cetacean bycatch landings networks that are actively collecting data on bycatch landings and reporting across nine coastal communities in Western, Central and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. Among these networks are the Fisheries Technical Officers (FTOs) of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), the Fisheries Enforcement Unit of the Marine Police, Community Volunteers and Chief Fishermen across the three coastal regions. The project also built the capacities of twenty-one (21) active members of the bycatch landings network in cetacean identification, and the use of a digital platform (Cetadata mobile app) in data collection and transmission of landings data to the cetacean database.

Achievements

• Operationalizing Ghana MarineMammal Bycatch Network
• Developing database for tracking and updating catches in regular time series
• Developing App on google Play Store for collecting and submitting cetacean data
• Training Fisheries Technical Officers and Volunteers (marine mammal network) on cetacean taxonomy, data collection and reporting
• Collecting data from several communities
• Providing marine mammal network whatsapp platform for data and information sharing on cetacean catches and strandings, and data validation for database
• Training graduate (masters) student for enhancing in-country capacity on cetacean science and management
• Sensitizing fishers on cetacean regulations
• Engaging fishing communities for behavioural change
• Engaging the Fisheries Commission on partnership, data sharing and policy for cetacean conservation
• Engaging and sharing information with the Fisheries Enforcement Unit
• Engaging in other policy advocacy

Landmark Achievement

The first ever cetacean database for tracking and updating landings in regular time series with analytics

Policy Recommendations

• Continuous sensitisation programme
• Continuous enforcement programme with intensity in August-September
• Cetacean conservation factored into co-management plans for voluntary compliance
• Possible gear modification (Drift Gill Net)
• Minimising DGN during August-January