The Ghana tuna pole & line FIP has been jointly established by key governments in the region, major tuna processors, producer organisations and their fishing vessels, with the support of WWF. This FIP is a multi-stakeholder effort, and its goal is to support improvement in the management of tuna fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean so that in the future, consumers can be assured that the pole and line tuna they purchase has been harvested sustainably. The ultimate aim is to meet the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Pole and line fishing is highly selective and the volume of tuna unfit to canneries is marginal. Tuna unfit for tuna canneries are sold to local markets, mostly through Tema and to some extent Abidjan.
The fleet catches mainly skipjack (2/3 of their total catch) and yellowfin tuna (currently around 1/3) as target species, in association with bigeye tuna. To catch tuna, the pole and line vessel vessels use drifting fish aggregating devices (DFADs) and small pelagic fish caught in Ghana waters as bait.
Target species: this FIP will consider the following three pelagic tuna species as the target species: skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)
Fishing methods: This FIP will include the use of pole and line catching of individual tuna.
Fishing area: The fishing area is the Atlantic Ocean under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna.e.g. FAO Statistical Areas 34.
Fishing fleet: The fishing fleet currently numbers 17 vessels fishing for, or on behalf of, the FIP participants. The exact nature of the fleet will be clarified as the FIP partnership evolves, and will be assessed in detail during FIP action planning. However, it is recognised that the fishing fleet might change over time if the FIP partnership is enlarged or decreased.
29% | 50% | 21% |
27% |
Behind | On Track | Complete | Future |
---|---|---|---|
9% | 64% | 27% | 0% |
Behind | On Track | Complete | Future |
---|---|---|---|
20% | 80% | 0% | 0% |