ike those in so many coastal, island and archipelagic states around the world, Ghana’s fishing communities are a critical element of national culture. From traditional canoe construction and painting to taking Tuesdays off to mend nets, to the methods the men use to fish, to the ways the women cook the fish, to how the head porters carry the smoked fish to market, to the markets themselves and beyond, coastal fishing is an integral part of Ghana’s cultural heritage and identity.
Thanks to foreign interests, however, this Ghanaian heritage is being destroyed. Foreign fishing fleets, in particular the Chinese Distant Water Fleet, have been pillaging the world’s oceans at an alarming rate, and decimating traditional cultures in the process. In a place like Ghana, several factors have converged to degrade Ghana’s cultural heritage. Not only is the industrial fisheries sector in Ghana controlled by Chinese interests, but the waters along the coast are being destroyed by the runoff from illicit Chinese mining operations, importing destructive methods that have polluted rivers and coastal seas and created a national water crisis. So whether the Chinese have caught all the fish or killed all the fish, Ghana’s fishing culture is experiencing a Chinese–driven cultural revolution. In other words, Ghanaian culture is as much on the brink of collapse as the Ghanaian marine environment.
Ghana is but one example from around the world where this phenomenon is occurring. The intersection of the so–called “resource curse” with neocolonialism, and China’s clear desire to engage in what its armed forces have termed both “resources warfare” and “cultural warfare” in an effort to “win without fighting,” suggest that the destruction of coastal cultural heritage may not simply be a byproduct of aggressive economic policies. Destroying a country’s culture destroys its distinctive identity, and thus makes it more susceptible to manipulation and malign influence. That breakdown occurs at various levels: fishers become susceptible to smuggling, fishing companies to criminal activity, and politicians to corruption. When a coastal culture is destroyed, it provides an entry point for a malign actor to access wider aspects of the country. This erosion of society and sovereignty is visible and palpable in places around the world.
At the same time, noble efforts are being made to push back against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in hopes of safeguarding the oceans for posterity. Unfortunately the world is terrestrially focused, and marine environmental sustainability initiatives have struggled to catch and hold the imagination of most of the world’s population. The maritime domain is often out of sight and thus out of mind. Many see the vastness of the ocean as being hard to damage by fishing activities alone. And, since no voters live on the water, the maritime domain is a tough place to generate political will.
But fishing villages, fish markets and coastal communities are noticeably dying off. Fewer and fewer fishers are even fishing, and the knock–on consequences are dire. A change in tack is desperately needed. Realigning focus—on the depletion of fishers more than the depletion of fish—may, ironically, do more to stop Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing than some of the sustainability efforts now under way. Ultimately, IUU fishing is an activity pursued by people who live on land, and who seek to bring the spoils of their efforts back to land. Addressing the conditions on land that allow for IUU fishing to flourish may be more effective than trying to stamp out the undesirable activity at sea.
To that end, there needs to be a re–appreciation for coastal culture and the role of fishing as national heritage. Designation of fishing communities and their distinctive crafts and techniques as intangible cultural heritage could provide another tool to help push back against the devastation that China in particular is wreaking on coastal areas. Just as UNESCO has designated the sand drawings of Vanuatu as an intangible world cultural heritage, thus allowing for protection and veneration of the craft, similar protections would go far to clarify the value of artisanal coastal fishing communities. This is particularly important in the face of the ongoing onslaught of aggressive state–owned and Chinese Communist Party controlled industrial fishing.
As a sovereign state, China may choose to destroy its own heritage and identity through a cultural revolution. But as a foreign actor, it should not be allowed to destroy the cultural heritage and identity of other states. And it certainly should not be allowed to do so by, at the same time, stealing the sovereign marine resources of those states. Only through understanding and respecting fishing as living cultural heritage can we ensure that no malign actor is allowed to destroy it.
a global affairs media network
Counter illegal fishing to preserve cultural heritage
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Photo by The Artboard via Pexels.
January 27, 2026
Illegal fishing is eroding coastal cultures, making the protection of fishing communities as cultural heritage vital to national sovereignty, writes Rohini Ralby and Dr. Ian Ralby.
L
ike those in so many coastal, island and archipelagic states around the world, Ghana’s fishing communities are a critical element of national culture. From traditional canoe construction and painting to taking Tuesdays off to mend nets, to the methods the men use to fish, to the ways the women cook the fish, to how the head porters carry the smoked fish to market, to the markets themselves and beyond, coastal fishing is an integral part of Ghana’s cultural heritage and identity.
Thanks to foreign interests, however, this Ghanaian heritage is being destroyed. Foreign fishing fleets, in particular the Chinese Distant Water Fleet, have been pillaging the world’s oceans at an alarming rate, and decimating traditional cultures in the process. In a place like Ghana, several factors have converged to degrade Ghana’s cultural heritage. Not only is the industrial fisheries sector in Ghana controlled by Chinese interests, but the waters along the coast are being destroyed by the runoff from illicit Chinese mining operations, importing destructive methods that have polluted rivers and coastal seas and created a national water crisis. So whether the Chinese have caught all the fish or killed all the fish, Ghana’s fishing culture is experiencing a Chinese–driven cultural revolution. In other words, Ghanaian culture is as much on the brink of collapse as the Ghanaian marine environment.
Ghana is but one example from around the world where this phenomenon is occurring. The intersection of the so–called “resource curse” with neocolonialism, and China’s clear desire to engage in what its armed forces have termed both “resources warfare” and “cultural warfare” in an effort to “win without fighting,” suggest that the destruction of coastal cultural heritage may not simply be a byproduct of aggressive economic policies. Destroying a country’s culture destroys its distinctive identity, and thus makes it more susceptible to manipulation and malign influence. That breakdown occurs at various levels: fishers become susceptible to smuggling, fishing companies to criminal activity, and politicians to corruption. When a coastal culture is destroyed, it provides an entry point for a malign actor to access wider aspects of the country. This erosion of society and sovereignty is visible and palpable in places around the world.
At the same time, noble efforts are being made to push back against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in hopes of safeguarding the oceans for posterity. Unfortunately the world is terrestrially focused, and marine environmental sustainability initiatives have struggled to catch and hold the imagination of most of the world’s population. The maritime domain is often out of sight and thus out of mind. Many see the vastness of the ocean as being hard to damage by fishing activities alone. And, since no voters live on the water, the maritime domain is a tough place to generate political will.
But fishing villages, fish markets and coastal communities are noticeably dying off. Fewer and fewer fishers are even fishing, and the knock–on consequences are dire. A change in tack is desperately needed. Realigning focus—on the depletion of fishers more than the depletion of fish—may, ironically, do more to stop Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing than some of the sustainability efforts now under way. Ultimately, IUU fishing is an activity pursued by people who live on land, and who seek to bring the spoils of their efforts back to land. Addressing the conditions on land that allow for IUU fishing to flourish may be more effective than trying to stamp out the undesirable activity at sea.
To that end, there needs to be a re–appreciation for coastal culture and the role of fishing as national heritage. Designation of fishing communities and their distinctive crafts and techniques as intangible cultural heritage could provide another tool to help push back against the devastation that China in particular is wreaking on coastal areas. Just as UNESCO has designated the sand drawings of Vanuatu as an intangible world cultural heritage, thus allowing for protection and veneration of the craft, similar protections would go far to clarify the value of artisanal coastal fishing communities. This is particularly important in the face of the ongoing onslaught of aggressive state–owned and Chinese Communist Party controlled industrial fishing.
As a sovereign state, China may choose to destroy its own heritage and identity through a cultural revolution. But as a foreign actor, it should not be allowed to destroy the cultural heritage and identity of other states. And it certainly should not be allowed to do so by, at the same time, stealing the sovereign marine resources of those states. Only through understanding and respecting fishing as living cultural heritage can we ensure that no malign actor is allowed to destroy it.
