Day Two of the 2nd International Ocean Governance Conference at the University of Ghana Law School shifted attention to the intersection of science, culture, and traditional wisdom in marine protection.
Speaking to participants on Wednesday, Mr Kofi Agbogah, Director of the coastal conservation group Hɛn Mpoano, called for a legal and policy framework that fully recognises local ecological knowledge as an indispensable complement to modern science in governing the oceans.
Mr Agbogah described Ghana’s coastal communities as custodians of centuries of oral history and practices that have guided fishing and marine stewardship. He explained that rituals, customs, and taboos observed by traditional fishers embody a conservation ethic that has safeguarded breeding grounds, migration routes, and biodiversity hotspots.
“Community rituals before fishing seasons reinforce respect for marine ecosystems and foster compliance through cultural legitimacy,” he told participants.
However, he warned that these values are fast eroding.
“Traditional coastal people have highlighted Christianity and Western education at the cost of weakened conservation ethics,” he said, adding that much of the practical fishing knowledge and cultural taboos that sustained marine health are disappearing.
This erosion, he argued, undermines long-term ecological memory that once allowed fishers to link wind patterns, lunar cycles, water colour, and currents to fish spawning and abundance.
Mr Agbogah emphasized that such indigenous insights offer “fine-scale, place-based knowledge” that science alone cannot provide. Integrating these systems, he said, will strengthen ecological effectiveness and reinforce social legitimacy.
“The path forward is not a choice between tradition and science, but a practical weaving of both into governance that is fair, effective, and future-proof,” he remarked.
To achieve this, he urged policymakers to enshrine local ecological knowledge in legislation and create space for customary laws to play a role in conservation and human rights. He also called for investment in preserving oral histories, documenting traditional practices, and embedding ocean literacy in school curricula.
“In our ongoing work on the blue economy for Ghana, we note that ocean knowledge and literacy is very low among Ghanaians,” he said, recommending integration of marine literacy into education at all levels.
Such measures, he argued, would protect fragile ecosystems while empowering communities to sustain livelihoods in the face of climate change and overfishing.
The conference, a collaboration between the University of Ghana and the Norwegian Government, continues until Thursday with panels examining law, science, and culture as pillars of global ocean governance.
