Fisheries performance in Africa: An analysis based on data from 14 countries

• Published in: Marine policy 2021-03, Vol.125, p.104263, Article 104263
• Main Authors: Asche, Frank, Garlock, Taryn M., Akpalu, Wisdom, Amaechina, Ebele Chinelo, Botta, Robert, Chukwuone, Nnaemeka Andegbe, Eggert, Håkan, Hutchings, Ken, Lokina, Razack, Tibesigwa, Byela, K. Turpie, Jane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Africa; Economics; Fisheries performance; Governance; Management; Nationalekonomi
• ISSN: 0308-597X; 1872-9460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104263

The Fishery Performance Indicators is a data collection tool that allows collection of comparable fisheries data in the environmental, economic and community pillars even under data poor circumstances. In this paper, data collected for 35 fisheries in 14 African countries are analyzed and compared to global averages. Similar to a previous global analysis, the different pillars of sustainability were positively correlated. The results are even more pronounced for Africa than globally. The only exception is the relationship between environment and community pillars in Africa, which is statistically insignificant, and this is also the case for open access fisheries globally. The average scores in Africa are lower than global average scores in all dimensions, which is not unexpected given the high number of open access fisheries. However, factors that are not fisheries specific may be more important for this result, suggesting that a country’s governance, economic conditions, and development status are important for fisheries performance. •Most African fisheries operate under governance systems with open access incentives.•African fisheries are scoring lower than the global averages in the three sustainability pillars.•The largest performance gaps between African fisheries and the rest of world are in the post-harvest sector.