Fisheries that millions of Ghanaians depend on are at risk of collapse as a result of rampant illegal fishing and overfishing by Chinese-owned industrial trawlers, and a culture of corruption has allowed these crimes to go unpunished, according to a new investigation from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

EJF’s investigations blow the whistle on systemic bribery and intimidation, resulting in egregious human rights abuses on board fishing vessels in Ghana’s waters, alongside shocking illegal fishing. EJF calls for cooperation and urgent action by the Ghanaian government and its international partners to bring the industry out of the shadows, to avert ecological and social crises and secure sustainable, legal and ethical fisheries in the Ghanaian fleet.

Ghana is home to over 200 fishing communities, with almost 3 million people in the country reliant on small-scale fisheries for their livelihoods. These livelihoods are now at risk, in large part because of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by the industrial trawl fleet. This is believed by EJF to be at least 90% owned by Chinese beneficiaries, flouting Ghanaian laws on foreign ownership.

EJF has previously documented these trawlers illegally targeting small pelagic species - including those referred to as “the people’s fish” - and selling them back to the communities who would have caught them, a practice known as “Saiko” fishing. This illicit trade was originally conducted at sea, largely under the cover of darkness. Trawlers transferred frozen blocks of fish to specially adapted canoes which went on to sell to local markets.

Following government action to halt the illegal trade in September 2021, this practice appeared to have stopped. However, instead of disappearing, the activity has only become more open. EJF investigators tracked large volumes of small pelagic species and juvenile demersal fish, placed in cartons and sold at the country’s major industrial port for onward distribution across the country.

The report draws on interviews with Ghanaian crew who witnessed abuses first-hand, filmed evidence, a network of informants and analysis of vessel tracking data. All those interviewed said that there was insufficient food onboard vessels, 94% had restricted access to clean water and 81% had witnessed or experienced physical violence.

Furthermore, 92% had seen fish illegally dumped at sea, 81% stated they had witnessed their captains illegally entering waters reserved for canoe fishers, 64% had seen the illegal targeting and capture of non-target species and 53% testified to the use of illegally adapted fishing gears.

The picture which emerges, EJF claims, is one of systemic corruption enabling illegal fishing and human rights abuses to go unreported and unpunished in the country’s waters, with almost 90% of crew interviewed witnessing corruption from authorities. EJF believes that the web of corruption is so deep and entangled that sustainability, and the defence of human rights is impossible without substantial reforms.