Blue Ventures Conservation Report This publication is available electronically on the Blue Ventures website at http://blueventures.org and the Coastal Resources Center’s website at http://www.crc.uri.edu For more information contact: Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882, USA. Brian Crawford, Director International Programs at Email: [email protected]; Tel: 401-874-6224; Fax: 401-874-6920 Acknowledgements: This study was commissioned by the Coastal Resources Center (CRC), University of Rhode Island through support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). We would like to express our gratitude to CRC for supporting the study and our thanks also go to CRC and World Fish Center staff in Ghana for their collaboration, in particular Mark Fenn for his instrumental advice throughout the project. Our special appreciation is extended to the fishers in Western Ghana who participated in our work, and welcomed us into their community. Finally, our warm regards go to Mike and Silvia and their staff at Kedas Lodge, Miemia, for sharing their local knowledge and friendly hospitality. Citation: Ateweberhan, M., Gough, C., Fennelly, L., and Frejaville, Y. (2012). Nearshore Rocky Reefs of Western Ghana, West Africa: Baseline ecological research surveys. Blue Ventures Conservation, London, United Kingdom. 104 pp. Disclaimer: This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID/Ghana. The contents are the responsibility of the authors as part of the Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID/Ghana or the United States Government. Associate Cooperative Agreement No. 641- A-00-09-00036-00 for “Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance (ICFG) Program for the Western Region of Ghana,” under the Leader with Associates Award No. EPP-A-00-04-00014-00. Cover photo: Ghanaian fisherman sorting the morning catch Cover photo credit: Gough, C. 2012 Blue Ventures Conservation Report 1. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Ghana’s coastal environment and fisheries resources ............................................................................................ 1 Food Security and Economy ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Population growth, fisheries exploitation and environmental threats.................................................................... 2 Climate Change impacts ........................................................................................................................................... 5 The current project and study objectives ................................................................................................................ 5 Fish community structure and biomass ................................................................................................................................ 6 Invertebrate abundance and community structure ............................................................................................................. 6 Benthic cover and community structure .............................................................................................................................. 6 2. Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Research Area .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Environmental data .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Site characteristics ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Biological data ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Fish species diversity, abundance and biomass .................................................................................................................. 11 Invertebrate Belts ............................................................................................................................................................... 11 Benthic surveys ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Fisher interviews .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................................................... 15 3. Results .................................................................................................................................................. 17 Fish total Abundance .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Fish family abundance ............................................................................................................................................ 18 Fish species richness .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Fish species diversity .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Fish trophic level .................................................................................................................................................... 27 Total fish biomass ................................................................................................................................................... 29 Biomass of fish families .......................................................................................................................................... 31 Fish size distributions ............................................................................................................................................. 36 Invertebrate community structure ........................................................................................................................ 39 Benthic / substrate cover ....................................................................................................................................... 44 4. Discussion ............................................................................................................................................. 52 Fish community structure and biomass ................................................................................................................. 52 Invertebrate community ........................................................................................................................................ 54 Blue Ventures Conservation Report Benthic community ................................................................................................................................................ 56 5. Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................................ 57 Summary of findings .............................................................................................................................................. 57 Management implications ..................................................................................................................................... 59 The need for integration ..................................................................................................................................................... 59 6. References ............................................................................................................................................ 62 7. Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 68 8. Supplementary Information ................................................................................................................... 81 S1. Focus group survey results ............................................................................................................................................ 81 S.2. Fishing Surveys ............................................................................................................................................................. 88 S.2.1. Catch characteristics ................................................................................................................................................. 88 Blue Ventures Conservation