Dr Denis
I'm Denis Aheto, PhD. I'm presently the head of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Cape Coast. I teach various courses at the university, and am primarily responsible for the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Program. I also lead several programs, the foremost being the USAID-funded Fisheries and Coastal Management program in Ghana. We are also involved in several other programs within the country, where we support the development of a curriculum for the training of fish farmers. We try to look at opportunities that allow us to collaborate with private fish farmers and engage in some other research interventions, collaborating with some foreign partners.
Baerbel Mueller
Could you briefly describe the characteristics of Ghana's Atlantic coast?
Dr Denis
Generally, we may want to look at coasts as an interface between the land and the sea. In Ghana, we describe it as a long column along a 30 m contour with the wetland areas; it runs about the length of the 70 m outline of the shore, and the coastal zone extends up to 100 meters. These are the more productive areas of the ocean.
Organisms and biodiversity that you might find inland and in the ocean feed into the food chain. Lagoons are a perfect example of critical natural resources on the environmental level. We also have wetland areas, and these are pristine environmental ecosystems that allow for land-sea interaction. Environmentally, you know, these are areas where fish can breed, the same as environments for high biodiversity of inland aquatic environments. Environmentally, they’re also a source of aeration to the natural environment and serve as essential biodiversity hotspots. Globally, we know that coastal areas are one of the highest biodiversity areas.
Baerbel Mueller
What characterizes the ocean or the coastal zone in Ghana? You just described it on an environmental level. What about the cultural and social aspects?
Dr Denis
It might interest you to know that certain places, like those where you have mangroves, are places of service to the gods. They are genuinely kept and maintained in a way that serves to bring about a significant value to that environment. The coastal areas were places the Europeans used as access points to the country in the colonial era. Many of these places are critical places for tourism, and to the fishing industry. Fishing is a historical activity. The coastal areas under their pristine environment are places where you have high fisheries production, both marine and some areas where you might also see the aquaculture industry booming.
In terms of culture, it might be interesting to look at some essential economic activities in the coastal areas, for instance, salt mining and the extraction of goo from mangroves for fish smoking, and the building of timber mangroves for agriculture. It is essential to look at some of these traditional activities: people get materials from the coastal area for construction, bring water for agriculture, and get food from the marine and the inland water. In terms of economic value, countless opportunities come to mind – the oil and gas industry have been finding oil in Ghana since 2007. That has also come with many opportunities and, of course, challenges for coastal dwellers. You have heavy sea traffic around this time in Ghana, where you see a lot of interest within the coastal zone. In the Western Region, there are refineries and residential facilities around the areas where the oil installations are. With the vast influx of people, there is a considerable demand for economic inflows in banking. Residential facilities are booming. The tourism industry is also coming up with monumental installations within the coastal areas, for example, thermal power plants, for which you need large volumes of water to run the turbines. So, there are countless opportunities within the coastal zone. With these opportunities come many challenges.
Statistics indicate that more than a quarter of our population has lived within the coastal area in the last decade. Recently, the estimate has gone that about a third of our population lives within 100 kilometers of the coastline. That itself brings a wide range of challenges for urban and social planning as a country, but it also brings significant economic assets, like the oil and gas industry. But we are not just planning for human development but also for how to take care of the ecology of the environment in a balanced way. We call it sustainable development.
Baerbel Mueller
Could you speak more about the local fishery and what is happening internationally in front of the Ghanaian coast? How is that affecting the life of rural populations?
Dr Denis
There are enormous challenges within the fishery sector. One of them is illegally reported and documented fisheries, and there are a lot of illegalities going on within the fishery sector at the expense of the poor fisherman. And I would like to state that Ghana is a fish-eating nation. You know, 60% of our animal protein comes from fish. The average Ghanaian eats about 20 kilos of fish in a year. And this is substantial in Africa; Ghana ranks among the top countries that eat fish. Fish contributes a very high caloric intake to our food intake. And in terms of employment, the fishery sector employs over 10% of our population. The industry's relevance has been emphasized by the creation of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture. However, there are several illegalities being committed, both by foreign fleets in our water bodies and by local fishermen, who use illegal techniques such as light and dynamite. As far as the implications for the local people, you know, fishing communities have been developed historically. Most of these people have developed their livelihoods around fisheries. I always try to stress that enforcement of the law is a crucial resource management area for individuals. We also need to look at alternative livelihoods, so not just having fishing as the major livelihood, but also coming up with other opportunities within the coastal zone.
Baerbel Mueller
Could you mention some?
Dr Denis
The use of the phrase ‘alternative livelihood’ is questioned because you are asking people to change, so I think I'll be more comfortable using ‘diversified livelihood.’ People can look for additional sources of wealth. They may begin looking at agriculture. There are a lot of local businesses for those interested in handicrafts, such as making shoes or other activities, and some are turning to apiculture. People might also want to go into mass production, but that also depends on people's interest in putting their time and effort into it. We're looking at these aspects to reduce the impact of fishing as an essential livelihood.
Baerbel Mueller
We have been talking about fishery, but the other big topic is the pollution of the coasts, as waste management is a massive challenge. Could you talk about that?
Dr Denis
Yes, there are several kinds of pollution. There is industrial pollution, agricultural pollution, and pollution from domestic sources. And talking about industrial, there are several levels. Small-scale illegal mining is one of our critical problems. In Ghana, the mining feeds the water bodies, releasing many chemicals and heavy metals, including mercury. As environmentalists, we raise our voices and look at how best we can formalize these systems to effectively bring these activities to a manageable level. In terms of agriculture, it mostly takes place on the land. Still, sometimes the chemicals and fertilizers leach into the streams and eventually get into the rivers, coming down into the ocean. But now, we are also preparing ourselves as a country for any fallout from the oil and gas industry. We need to plan for things like that as a country. Domestic sources of pollution or treated waste getting into our water bodies are part of the challenges. Still, when you talk about waste treatment or waste management, it is a considerable challenge. I think we can also start on a very small scale, having each individual begins to do something on their own to ease the problem. Pollution is a significant challenge within the coastal area, with heavy metal pollution and solid waste.
Baerbel Mueller
Are there any protected zones in Ghana? Are there, for example, breeding areas covered by fishery for a particular time?
Dr Denis
Ghana has six areas that are protected. Of course, they have their challenges. But in terms of protected marine areas, we have yet to have one. But I know that efforts have been put in place to have designated areas within the maritime zones that can serve as a refuge for fish breeding and other aquatic organisms. So it's yes and no, with Ghana being a signatory of the Ramsar Convention and creating several Ramsar sites in the country.
Baerbel Mueller
Another crucial topic is coastal erosion in Ghana. What are its characteristics?
Dr Denis
I recently read a document by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency that highlighted coastal erosion as one of the major challenges in Ghana. It was linked mainly to the challenges of climate change. Climate models indicate that for every one-meter rise in the sea level, about 1000 square kilometers of Ghana's coastline will erode. These are models, and some people have challenged such calculations. The Keta Sea Defense project in the water region has been put in place to minimize the impact of coastal erosion on coastal communities. That is one of the most significant sea defense projects that Ghana has invested in, specifically in the eastern corridors of the country. As a university, we've been trying to do our small part in it, of course, with the support of the USAID to run programs on climate change adaptation: management organizations, district and regional planners, and how we could plan to mitigate or adapt to the challenges of climate change. Our activities as humans impact our coastal systems. But I think the problem of coastal erosion is primarily linked to natural forces, including climate variability, which is taking away a massive expanse of our beaches and coastline.
Baerbel Mueller
And so, it affects the situation on all the levels related to the open sea.
Dr Denis
The saltwater intrusion into the groundwater bodies creates many problems, which we don't want to go into at this stage. Generally, the issue of climate change and rising sea levels affects the integrity of coastal ecosystems in terms of changes to the natural system. A rising sea level means that you have higher salt levels in the lagoons; with changes in salinity, you also affect other chemical and physical components of the system. And the rainfall patterns will be erratic, which impacts agriculture in coastal areas. The prevalence of diseases, then, for the fisheries industry as a whole, will tamper with the upwelling, which is a prominent hydrological feature for high fisheries production in Ghana. Typically, you need the surface water to cool for the upwelling to happen. Upwelling generally occurs in the early part of the year, January, February, and then August and September. With climate change and increasing temperatures, the cooling will not happen, which will impact the quality of the water and minimize the occurrence of upwelling, so it's going to affect fisheries production. This situation will impact livelihoods. We have already witnessed some of these challenges.