We are the Shellfish Hub

The West Africa Shellfish Knowledge and Outreach Hub, also known as the Shellfish Hub, hosted and administered by the Centre for Coastal Management-Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR), University of Cape Coast, seeks to promote sustainable shellfisheries in West Africa to improve the livelihoods of local communities while protecting the marine, estuarine, and mangrove ecosystems which are the primary habitats of most commercial shellfish species in the region. The long-term goal of the knowledge and outreach hub is to collate, make accessible, and support the use of information on sustainable management of shellfisheries and connected ecosystems within the West African sub-region through active research, capacity building, and partnerships.

West African countries covered: 11
Active projects: 3
Publications: 19
Shellfish Stakeholder: 7

Mission

The Shellfish Hub will offer a platform for information gathering, communication, and dissemination to enhance the capacities of shellfisheries’ stakeholders in West Africa. Activities of the Hub will strengthen shellfisheries governance and empowerment of communities to promote the well-being of shellfishers (primarily women) and sustainable use of the resources.

Our Objectives

Best practices: Gather, synthesize, and disseminate information, tools, resources, and processes on best practices in sustainable management of shellfisheries in West Africa.
Networking: Foster networking, collaboration and partnerships among stakeholders in the sector, including shellfishers, fishery managers, researchers, NGOs, policymakers and development partners.
Support: Provide support services to shellfishers groups and associations towards scaling up shellfisheries co-management in the sub-region.
Advocacy: Engage in advocacy and awareness creation among the wider public about the importance of sustainable management practices for shellfisheries and connecting ecosystems, and the benefits of supporting local communities who depend on these resources.
Capacity building: Provide training and capacity-building opportunities for stakeholders to improve their skills and knowledge in basic data collection and sustainable management practices on shellfisheries.