September 11, 2025
Oceana in Ghana: New Campaigns in Allyship with Coastal Communities
BY: James Simon
This week Oceana’s Board of Directors approved the launch of operations in Ghana — West Africa’s third-largest fishing nation — where we will campaign alongside coastal communities to rebuild fish populations, increase vital nutrition, and strengthen livelihoods. Today, we begin the search for Oceana’s new leader in Ghana, who will build a team — like all our teams around the world — of people from the country, working for the country.
Ghana is one of Africa’s most fish-dependent nations. More than 21 million people, about 60% of the population, rely on the oceans for food and income. Fisheries employ 2.7 million people directly, mostly in the artisanal sector. Fish is a cornerstone of the country’s cuisine, providing most of the country’s animal-based protein. Yet these fisheries are under threat from overfishing, industrial trawling, climate change, and ineffective management.
For over 20 years, Oceana has won victories that rebuild abundant oceans, safeguard marine life, and help feed the world. Working with our allies, we have secured hundreds of policy changes in countries that control more than a quarter of the world’s wild fish catch — rebuilding fisheries, protecting habitat and endangered species, curbing plastic and oil pollution, and stopping illegal and destructive fishing.
Recently, Oceana has been expanding our focus from not only improving fish abundance, but also fish access. Although West Africa is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, locals’ access to fish in Ghana is at risk — and that threatens the health and wellbeing of the coastal communities who rely on this resource.
Ghana’s most essential fish — sardinella — has declined by 80% over the last 20 years and small-scale fishers are struggling to catch it, and Ghanaians are having more difficulty getting this cheap and nutritious food. The decline in sardinella also threatens the livelihoods of the fish processors — mostly women — who have historically preserved the fish through smoking or drying and then trading it throughout the region.
Oceana’s Ghana team will design and lead strategic campaigns to support small-scale fishers and fish-dependent communities by securing and expanding access to nutrient-rich marine resources. Working in allyship with local communities, Oceana will strengthen fisheries management, improve seafood supply chains, protect marine habitat, and amplify the voices of artisanal fishers in policymaking.
This is a hopeful moment in addressing urgent needs. Together, we can ensure Ghana’s oceans are abundant and that coastal communities thrive. Thank you for standing with us as we expand this critical mission to save the oceans and feed the world.