Exploring the dynamics of fishing footprints in the Gulf of Guinea and Congo Basin region: Current status and future perspectives

The Gulf of Guinea and Congo Basin coastal region has long been considered one of the most well-endowed areas of the world in terms of marine biodiversity, with the potential to spur economic development and food security in the subregion. Although human activities along the coast are widespread, with an extensive footprint over time, the analysis of the dynamics of fishing footprints remains poorly understood. To effectively manage fishery resources, it is essential to characterize (i) the convergence property of fishing ground footprints (FFs) to discuss the feasibility of a co-management model of fisheries governance, (ii) the future patterns of FFs across countries. Following this foregoing, we observe the dynamics of FFs in twelve countries in the Gulf of Guinea and Congo Basin region between 1990 and 2017. We find weak evidence of convergence in FFs, implying that the catchingup effect is partial. Another key feature is that, except for Ghana and Guinea Bissau, the FFs of other countries are projected to increase until 2030, making it more challenging to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, life underwater. Effectively, FFs diverge when considering projected data up to 2030. This entails the need for collaborative governance of fisheries resources in order to reverse future fishing footprint patterns.