Blog post
Recognizing fishery livelihoods and rights of indigenous mobile Fante communities in West Africa: How our research is shaping social change!
The Fante fisherfolk are indigenous mobile people who have their roots in Ghana but their fishery livelihoods and settlements are widely spread across the West African coast. Fante fisherfolk have navigated the West African coast for centuries following seasonal flows of fish in transboundary coastal waters and searching for opportunities for fish trade. They established rich socio-cultural connections and traditional access rights to many fisheries in the region’s pre-colonial times.
But as regulations of fisheries and conservation as well as borders emerged and continue to evolve in the context of increasing socio-environmental change, how do these historic mobile fishery practices of the Fante fisherfolk fare? This is the crux of Iddrisu Amadu’s PhD research as part of the Vidi Project on Climate Change-related Mobility in the Borderlands led by Dr. Ingrid Boas.
To understand this we have been visiting, staying in and maintaining our connections with Fante communities in Senegal, Gambia and Ghana engaging in cross-border fishing and fish trade across the region. By historically specializing in traditional shark fishery, highly migratory species of sharks, rays and skates serve as the lifeline of the livelihoods and nomadic fishing tradition of these communities.
Changing tides and borders: the multiple risks the Fante shark fishery face
The traditional shark fishery of the nomadic Fante fisherfolk now faces many threats. First, increasing overfishing, pollution and destructive practices of industrial fleets such as shark finning exert significant pressures on shark populations in traditional fishing grounds of Fante fisherfolk mainly in Senegal and Gambia. With changing climatic and ecosystem conditions, the migratory patterns of the sharks are also shifting, connecting coastal waters and places such as the archipelagoes of Guinea Bissau. But the nomadic Fante fisherfolk can no longer move while sharks move. Marine protected areas, restrictions and bans on shark fishing now limit the nomadic lifestyle, making it difficult, if not impossible for many to keep their livelihoods and traditional fishery practices of following shark migrations in face of change.
In states such as Guinea Bissau, Fante fisherfolk become the target of security enforcement who carry out brutal forms of “instant justice” and human rights violations at sea, including unlawful confiscation and shooting, even leading to the death of some fishermen.
They are regarded as the migrant/foreign fisherfolk, a tag that perpetuates their systemic exclusion and discrimination including the erosion of their traditional fishing access rights as indigenous mobile people in the region. These are now compelling nomadic Fante communities to abandon their livelihoods, long traditions and ways of living, but worse is that their voice has also remained unheard despite complaints to relevant authorities.
Our role
In our field visits, leaders of Fante communities have constantly asked how our work will help address the challenges they’re faced with on a daily. We recognize the need to better manage fisheries and conserve biodiversity but most importantly, those initiatives that create balanced objectives for people and nature. In this view, we believe that the rights of nomadic Fante communities whose only mainstay has historically depended on the traditional shark fishery deserve to be recognised. Moreover, they do not deserve to be labelled the “enemy” but a partner in fisheries and conservation efforts especially when evidence suggests that threats to fish stocks and biodiversity are diverse and the impact of the traditional shark fishery of the Fante fisherfolk is likely minimal compared to the activities of industrial fishing fleets in the region (even though data is limited).
In line with our commitment to social impact in the project, Iddrisu has since led efforts to create a medium that provides affected Fante communities with the networks and capacity to amplify their own voices. Iddrisu has facilitated the connection of the leadership of these communities with the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG). The CaFGOAG led by Nana Kweigyah who previously worked with the African Confederation of Professional Organizations of Artisanal Fisheries (CAOPA) has a wide national and regional network with a track record of success in its activism and advocacy for the recognition and representation of fisherfolk in fisheries governance. With these networks, we have since 2023 started collective advocacy on various platforms including high-level fora, mainstream and social media.
Bilateral agreement between Guinea Bissau and Ghana: A glimmer of hope?
In part due to our collective efforts of Iddrisu Amadu, Nana Kweigyah and leaders of the affected Fante communities among other advocates, a bilateral agreement between Guinea Bissau and Ghana that includes cooperation in fisheries was announced: see news report. While details of the recently announced bilateral agreement and what it will fully mean to nomadic Fante fishery communities in the region are yet to be known, it comes with excitement to the leaders of these communities. Also, the announced access agreement may not include their main target fish species as these are protected, at least we can expect three things:
(i) the recognition and inclusion of the Fante communities in decision-making processes;
(ii) more fair and equitable licensing and tax regime;
(iii) change in enforcement approaches that eschews armament and all forms of instant justice to fisherfolk at sea.
Most importantly, and for us, they will be recognized and given a seat at the table allowing them to regain agency about their own livelihoods and contribute to the discussion on possible ways to adapt to changing marine environments, calls for biodiversity and marine life protection, and the impacts of climate change.
In another related effort, we submitted an input to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In our yet-to-be-published submission “Rights of historically mobile Fante communities in West Africa”, we argued for the recognition of the identities and rights of Fante communities as a mobile indigenous group in relation to fisheries governance, conservation regimes and border controls in the region. Being at the frontlines of the impacts of declining fish stocks, often state-sanctioned dispossession and climate-driven threats on the coast which they contribute insignificantly to, we also highlight this embedded injustice and the need for equitable distribution of benefits.
Iddrisu continues to work together with leaders of Fante communities and fisher associations to create opportunities for them to take charge of advocacy for their rights, justice and representation in policies that affect their fishery practices, livelihood and cultures.
Conclusion
Shark conserving is extremely crucial as shark populations decline globally but conservation and fisheries management measures must also recognize the rights, livelihoods and traditions of indigenous mobile fisherfolks, such as the nomadic Fante community in West Africa who have historically specialized in and rely on shark fisheries. Recognizing and including these communities in shark conservation is an essential foundational step towards achieving equitable and socially just conservation.