Ghana is missing out on between $14.4 -23.7 million every year in fishing licence fees and fines, according to a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
Ghana’s fees and fines are kept low for local vessels – yet 90% of the Ghanaian trawl fleet is owned by Chinese corporations who use local front companies to register as Ghanaian and circumvent the law. This opacity over ownership allows Chinese corporations to pay well below the market value for access to Ghana’s ocean resources, as well as commit offences without fear of significant repercussions.
Ghana’s licensing fees are substantially lower than other coastal states in the region, and insignificant considering that many trawlers operating in Ghana are beneficially owned by large, in some cases state-controlled, Chinese corporations, the report claims.
Fines for widespread illegal fishing are often below even the minimum stipulated by Ghanaian legislation and do not meet Ghana’s responsibilities under international law.
Comparisons with neighbouring countries suggest Ghana could generate an additional US$ 2.4-6.7 million every year by increasing its fees for foreign trawlers to levels similar to those in neighbouring countries.
In 2020, the annual licence fee for an average trawler of 200gt tonnes was around US$ 30,000, nearly four times less than in Guinea, where a foreign trawler of this size would pay around US$ 119,000 annually. Meanwhile, a single, state-owned Chinese company with trawl operations in Ghana reported an operating revenue of around US$ 164.5 million in 2019, also receiving subsidies for its overseas fishing operations of around US$3.0 million in the same year.
EJF’s report suggests that fines for illegal fishing and other offences are also much too low. Not only has this resulted in unrealised revenue of around US$12 million in 2015 and US$17 million in 2018, it is failing to deter such offences.
Cases of illegal fishing are generally heard through opaque out-of-court settlement processes, with fines imposed at well below the statutory minimum and in some cases going unpaid. The justification for such low fines is that the companies cannot afford to pay, but this is based on front company accounts, which do not reflect the reality of the larger controlling entity behind the vessel concerned.
The report identifies several cases of alleged illegal fishing in Ghana linked to a Chinese state-owned corporations Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries Co Ltd and the Shandong Ocean Fishery Development Corporation.
According to EJF, by raising its fees to the same level as Guinea, Ghana could reduce trawler numbers from 75 to just ten vessels, while doubling the revenue generated through licensing fees.
