Article 7 section 7.1.8 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) states that “States should take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity and should ensure that levels of fishing effort are commensurate with sustainable use of fishery resources as a means of ensuring the effectiveness of conservation and management measures.”

Furthermore, Article 8 Section 8.2.1 of the same document states that “Flag states should maintain records of fishing vessels entitled to fly their flag and authorised to be used for fishing and indicate in such records details of the vessels, their ownership and authorisation to fish.”

System

To meet the above requirements under the West African Regional Fisheries Programme, the Fisheries Commission (FC) created and implemented a modern fishing Vessel Registry and Licensing System that contains pertinent data on ownership and characteristics of all fishing vessels (industrial, semi-industrial and canoe.

In response, the FC began coast-to-coast (national) canoe registration in 2014, assigning unique registration numbers with specific letters to all maritime canoe managers and the canoe itself numbers with specified letters as stated below:

• RR – DT – XXXX – CM

• RR – DT – XXX – FVG

Where RR stands for the coastal region initials, DT for Coastal District, XX for serial numbers, CM for canoe manager and FVG for the fishing village. This web-based database (www.ghfishreg.gov.gh) has created a new window to the fisheries management system's deeper governance, transparency and accountability.

Again, to address the open fishing system in Ghana, the Canoe Identification was conceptualised in 2017 as a credible management tool at addressing the open access fishery in the artisanal sector and to reduce fishing effort to aid in rebuilding and managing Ghana’s small pelagic stocks as the open-access fishery which has resulted in the influx of canoes and reducing efforts/pressure and also controlling new entrants to the artisanal/canoe fishery were objectives of the 2015-2019 Marine Fisheries.

With funding help from the USAID Sustainable Fisheries Management Program (SFMP), a series of engagements were undertaken with stakeholders to sensitise them on the need of registering their canoes.

Among the CIC's objectives are regulation and management of open access to the fishing resource, particularly the small pelagic, and the recognition and validity of all canoe owners and operators.

The main feature on the card is the canoe, its owner/manager, the type of fishing and what the canoe is used for with other data embedded within and can only be revealed with the use of a card reader, which is in line with section 54 of the Fisheries Act 2002 (625); Artisanal fishing licence and renewal as stated below: (1) A licence for artisanal fishing shall

a) specify the period of validity of the licence;

b) indicate the activity for which the licence is issued; and

c) state the markings and identity of the artisanal vessel

Interestingly, the Canoe Identification Card can be used as a fishing licence.

CIC distribution exercise

The FC began distributing the CIC in December, 2021 after receiving over 10,000 printed cards from USAID SFMP.

The distribution exercise is across the four coastal regions and is being done simultaneously throughout all zones and landing points.

­­Expected outcome

It is expected that while the identification process is ongoing, the open-access fishery is regulated and managed in the artisanal /canoe fishery sector for stocks of the fisheries resources, in particular, the small pelagic to be replenished for sustainability.