Juvenile Species in Beach Seine Bycatch Along the Coast of Ghana: Any Implications for Fisheries?

ABSTRACT Beach seine is a popular fishing gear along the coast of West Africa. The low selectivity of this gear, coupled with its mode of operation, results in the bycatch of juveniles of commercially important fish species and other non‐target organisms, which are consequently discarded. This study investigates the macrofaunal constituents of beach seine bycatch discarded along the coast of Ghana and the potential implications for the country's fisheries. Discards from two beach seine nets were collected and examined monthly from Dzelukofe, Bortianor, and Cape Coast over a period of six months, from August to October 2022 for the wet season and December 2022 to February 2023 for the dry season. In total, 71 species (15,708 individuals) were recorded at Dzelukofe, 65 species (5158 individuals) at Duakor, and 62 species (8030 individuals) at Bortianor. Eighty (80) species made up of 20,545 individuals were recorded during the dry season, while 75 species comprising 8,351 individuals were recorded during the wet season. Bivalves accounted for 41.1% of the macrofauna encountered, followed by cephalopods (35.7%) and malacostracans (21.9%). The remaining macrofauna together accounted for < 3%. Cuttlefish eggs dominated (43.07%) the discards in the dry season, while being completely absent in the wet season. The cuttlefish eggs were most prominent in Dzelukofe, accounting for > 50% of the sample. Pinctada radiata dominated (41.4%) at Duakor, while Gari fervensis (46.6%) was dominant in Bortianor. Juveniles and early life stages of commercially important species made up almost 85% of the discards. Potentially, about 8,600,000 cuttlefish eggs were discarded through beach seining activities, which could have produced at least 100,000 adult cuttlefish. This trend could be true for other commercially important fish species found in the beach seine discards. For a country whose fisheries sector generates over 1 billion USD in revenue each year and contributes to at least 4.5% of GDP, further studies on the implications of beach seine fisheries on the economy are recommended for better management strategies.