From Mozambique’s white-sand beaches to Iceland’s snow-white ports, a fisheries delegation learns how private rights, transparent management, and data analysis can transform a fishing industry.
The impact of climate change on hydrology and other natural resources, and on many sectors of African economies—from agriculture to transport, to energy—has been widely researched and discussed. But its effect on marine fisheries, an important economic sector and significant source of food for large numbers of people in Africa, is less well understood.
First, what is known?
Climate change leads to rising sea temperatures, making fish stocks migrate toward colder waters away from equatorial latitudes, and contributing to shrinking fish sizes. It also influences the abundance, migratory patterns, and mortality rates of wild fish stocks.
In Ghana, coastal erosion and rising seas are burying some seaside villages, like Fuveme, which is now completely under sand. As in neighboring countries, hydrocarbon exploration is well underway not too far from the shore, and coastal urban areas are expanding. The fish stock has declined dramatically, and formerly thriving fishing communities are in trouble.
When I was growing up in rural Nigeria in the ‘80s and ‘90s, agriculture was already a central part of my life. As a child, I gained farm experience working with my father, who was a veterinarian. My mother, a teacher, would send me off to school each day with the parting words, “Go out there and be the best amongst equals.” This is still the motto by which I try to live.
