CEFAS23-93 Contract for Ghana ALDFG data collection services under the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP)

The OCPP was announced in 2021 as a key bilateral aid programme under the £500m Blue Planet Fund.

Under the OCPP, Cefas will use existing experience of collaboration at an international level, to develop innovative science techniques and analyses with OCPP partner countries that address marine pollution challenges.

Cefas will work alongside international partners in government and society to collaborate on work packages to tackle marine litter, including raising awareness to encourage best practices in litter disposal.

This includes collecting data to evaluate the status of particular forms of pollution such as abandoned lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), collecting data that could be beneficial to start conversations about solutions.

This also includes a data collection programme on ALDFG to attempt to map the types and quantities of ALDFG in Ghana.

The method of data collection will be to undertake a number of physical field surveys to coastal regions in Ghana to identify ALDFG present.

Cefas requires the supplier to collect, record and QC data electronically to feed into an assessment of ADLFG mapping on the Ghanian coast.

Sampling is expected to take place across the four regions of Ghana, with equal sampling across all four regions throughout the year.