More Than 200 Ghanaian Fishers Scale Back Guitarfish Catches as Snail Farming and Soap-Making Replace Fin Income

Guitarfish, shark-like rays whose fins fetch high prices, have collapsed along West Africa's coast, and sawfish and wedgefish are considered locally extinct in Ghana. AquaLife Conservancy, founded by marine scientist Issah Seidu, works with fishers in five communities in the Ahanta West District. By April 2026 it had trained 83 fishers and boat captains in safe release and more than 200 fishers had scaled back their guitarfish harvest, while fishers and women fish traders were trained in snail farming and soap-making as alternative income. The work won a 2026 Whitley Award, which will extend it to four more communities and expand mapped critical habitat from 15 to 25 square kilometres toward Ghana's first locally managed marine area.