It is my greatest privilege to welcome you to FishCoMGhana, an initiative of the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM) of the University of Cape Coast. FishCoMGhana is a comprehensive web-based repository and knowledge management system on fisheries and coastal management. The need for this online platform for Ghana is rife and its relevance cannot be overemphasized. It is meant to provide scientific information to support decision and policy making as well as the management, conservation and sustainable utilization of inland, marine and coastal resources of Ghana. It is also meant to serve as a one-stop shop for accessing historical data rescued from various sources. It also contains current social and scientific information including new field observations and experimental results on inland, marine and coastal fisheries and other resources in Ghana.

The content provides a mobile interface that allows users to search, query, download or create reports on archived social and scientific data and information for access by students, scientists, policy makers, government agencies, non-governmental agencies and the private sector, both local and international. It also provides links to other databases and websites such as Ocean Biographic Information Systems (OBIS), NOAA Fisheries, Aquatic Science and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and allied institutions.

Several institutions have played key roles in making this project a success. We are thankful to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for financing this development. We also commend the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences of the University of Cape Coast for playing a lead role. We acknowledge the contributions from sister Departments and Centres in the University of Rhode Island, University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University for Development Studies, and University of Energy and Natural Resources. We are also grateful to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, the Fisheries Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ghana Meteorological Agency and other stakeholders.. It is my hope therefore that policy makers, scientists, students and other stakeholders will find this repository not only as an important source of knowledge but one that also provides networking opportunities with institutions and other experts for the sustainable management of Ghana’s aquatic resources