A coalition of eleven Civil Society Organisations working in fisheries and coastal communities has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to urgently review offshore gold reconnaissance activities along Ghana’s western continental shelf.
In an open letter dated 28th September, 2026, the CSOs said while they do not oppose responsible investment or the lawful use of Ghana’s natural resources, decisions affecting the ocean space must protect fisheries, biodiversity, food security, human rights and coastal livelihoods before the programme advances to more intrusive stages.
The group says GoldCoast Resource Corp. reports that it holds ten offshore reconnaissance licences covering approximately 10,000 km², extending about 300 kilometres of Ghana’s coastline between Half Assini and Winneba and reaching about 33 kilometres offshore.
According to the letter, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2025 (Act 1146) defines the Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ) as the coastal waters between the coastline and twelve nautical miles offshore, or about 22 kilometres. The company’s published map therefore indicates that substantial portions of the licensed area fall within the IEZ, although the precise area of overlap requires publication of the official cadastral coordinates and licence instruments.
The CSOs warned that the matter is urgent, noting that company disclosures indicate approximately 50,000 line-kilometres of airb orne magnetic data have already been collected across 100% of the licensed area, with more detailed work focused on a 500 km² priority area encompassing the mouth of the Ankobra River.
The stated forward programme, they said, includes marine bathymetric and seismic surveys, followed by vibro-core drilling and bulk seabed sampling, even though no mineral resource or reserve or economic viability has yet been established.
Legal Questions
The coalition raised serious legal concerns, citing Section 32(3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, which prohibits the holder of a reconnaissance licence from drilling or excavating.
They argued that vibro-coring, bulk sampling involving seabed excavation and dredging therefore cannot properly be treated as reconnaissance activities.
More fundamentally, they pointed to section 99(6) of Act 703, as amended, which makes it an offence to use a floating platform or other equipment for mining or dredging to obtain minerals in Ghana’s natural water bodies, including the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
“This raises a serious threshold legal question that Government should clarify before further investment, approvals or ecological disturbance occur: how could contemplated vibro-coring, bulk sampling involving seabed excavation, dredging or eventual extraction lawfully proceed in light of section 99(6)?” the letter queried.
Threat to Fisheries and Livelihoods
The CSOs said the development comes at a time Ghana is making significant efforts to rebuild depleted fish populations, protect marine habitats and expand safeguards for small-scale fisheries.
They cited the Marine Fisheries Management Plan 2022–2026 which estimates that the fisheries subsector employs about 10% of Ghana’s population, more than three million people, as fishers, processors, boat owners and ancillary workers.
The 2022 Canoe Frame Survey enumerated 110,351 marine artisanal fishers and 12,181 canoes, while the Fisheries Commission’s 2025 Annual Performance Report recorded 282,658.29 metric tonnes of artisanal fish landings, representing 63.68% of total landings.
The group also warned that seismic and other acoustic surveys, increased vessel traffic, seabed disturbance and sediment plumes may affect spawning and nursery grounds, benthic habitats and marine mammals, referencing international experience from Norton Sound, Alaska and Bangka-Belitung in Indonesia where offshore mining significantly reduced benthic abundance and degraded seagrass habitats.
The CSOs further described the issue as constitutional and human-rights based, invoking Articles 21(1)(f), 23, 35(6)(d), 24, 36, 37 and 257(6) of the 1992 Constitution, as well as Ghana’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Demands
The organisations are therefore asking government to:
1. Publish the official coordinates, licence instruments, conditions and approved work programmes for all ten offshore licences;
2. Commission and publish an independent spatial overlay showing the licences in relation to the 12-nautical-mile IEZ, the Greater Cape Three Points MPA, key fishing grounds and sensitive habitats;
3. Clarify the legal and environmental approvals required for each subsequent phase, particularly vibro-core drilling, bulk sampling and dredging;
4. Ensure that no prospecting licence is granted and no progression to intrusive seabed activity occurs without robust environmental, fisheries, socio-economic and human-rights assessment and meaningful participation by stakeholders; and
5. Transparently determine whether the existing licences should continue unchanged, be modified to exclude sensitive areas, or be cancelled where applicable legal grounds warrant.
“Ghana has taken important steps to expand the IEZ, rebuild its fisheries and establish its first Marine Protected Area. The same shallow coastal waters should not be subjected to a potentially competing extractive use without first establishing, transparently and scientifically, the consequences for fisheries, biodiversity and the coastal communities that already depend on them,” the CSOs said.
The petition was signed by Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa (CEMLAWS Africa), Global Fisheries and Resilience Action, Hen Mpoano, OCEANA, Friends of the Nation, Development Action Association, CEWEFIA, CERATH Development Organisation, A Rocha Ghana and Oxfam.
Copies were sent to the Vice President, Chief of Staff, Council of State, Speaker of Parliament, Ministers for Lands, Fisheries, Environment, Transport, EPA, Minerals and Fisheries Commissions, CHRAJ, Regional Ministers, House of Chiefs and religious bodies.
