Ocean Inequality: Environmental Justice and the Disproportionate Impact of Overfishing on Coastal Communities in Ghana

Obiri, Edna

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/133329 Copy

Description

Title

Ocean Inequality: Environmental Justice and the Disproportionate Impact of Overfishing on Coastal Communities in Ghana

Author(s)

Obiri, Edna

Issue Date

2026-04-14

Keyword(s)

• Overfishing
• Ghana
• Environmental Justice
• Socioeconomic Inequality

Date of Ingest

2026-05-24T08:37:38-05:00

Abstract

This presentation examines overfishing not merely as an ecological crisis, but as a profound issue of environmental justice. The project argues that the depletion of marine resources disproportionately burdens coastal communities in the Global South, particularly in Ghana. While industrial fleets – often operating through opaque licensing systems and transnational supply chains – continue to dominate marine capture, small-scale and artisanal fishers face declining catches, rising poverty, and growing food insecurity. The study is guided by three core inquiries: How does overfishing reinforce socio-economic inequality? In what ways are the impacts gendered? And how can law and policy be restructured to advance climate justice in fisheries governance? Methodologically, the project combines doctrinal legal analysis of national and international fisheries frameworks with a focused case study of Ghanaian fishing communities. It also integrates lived experiences, paying particular attention to women engaged in post-harvest processing and market trade. Preliminary findings reveal interconnected ecological, socio-economic, and governance failures. Declining fish stocks undermine livelihoods; weak regulatory enforcement enables industrial dominance; and women – central to local fisheries economies – bear disproportionate burdens when supply chains collapse. Climate change further compounds these vulnerabilities, destabilizing regulatory assumptions that once governed coastal fisheries. The project concludes by proposing a climate justice-oriented governance framework that centers fisherfolk voices, strengthens fisheries law enforcement, and advances regional and international cooperation. It contends that sustainability cannot be achieved without equity. Effective ocean governance must therefore move beyond resource management to confront structural inequality embedded in global fisheries systems. By reframing overfishing through an environmental justice lens, this research contributes to broader debates on climate governance, distributive justice, and sustainable development in the Global South.

Type of Resource

Poster

Genre of Resource

conference poster

Language

eng

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