Paper short abstract:

We explore how illegal transshipment at sea – a practice popularly known in Ghana as saiko – has transformed over time given the relative difficulty in achieving a ‘zero' IUU at sea. We scrutinized the implications of saiko trading for fishery governance and seafood sustainability.

Paper long abstract:

This study examined the actors, institutions and the rationalities that frame saiko fishing in its informalized contexts. We investigated the actors involved in the saiko, their interests, rationalities and power relations that frame their engagements in the industry. We conducted 36 in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders within the Ghanaian fishery industry, particularly Elmina. The results reveal that diverse actors including formal and informal are involved in the saiko fish trade business. While the assumption was that state regulation has drastically reduced saiko nation-wide, the argument is made here that the state has rather emerged as an important actor in the strategic (re)positioning of saiko without careful treatment of the highly uneven and asymmetrical power relations in the fishing industry.

This study has shed light on unequal distribution of fisheries benefits and income among the saiko canoe fishers and canoe fisherfolk. Saiko canoe owners using their economic and political networks are able to establish contacts with Chinese industrial trawlers to engaged in illegal trans-shipment at sea. Getting abundant supply of fish and making more money whilst canoe fisherfolk struggle with low-catch and declining income. We also show intra-fleet inequalities where few saiko canoe owners with the political support are able to operate despite ban on the trans-shipment at sea. The paper therefore calls for a more transparent governance of the fisheries resources where all members of the community would have equal access.