Marine science and coastal change in Cabo Verde

Summary

Considering the coastal and marine zone, in order of greatest to least impact, I would begin with infrastructure development along our shoreline, particularly on the island of São Vicente, where I live.

What are currently the most significant changes in the relationships between the ocean, natural environments and societies in the territory you study? Which seem most consequential in the medium and long term?

Considering the coastal and marine zone, in order of greatest to least impact, I would begin with infrastructure development along our shoreline, particularly on the island of São Vicente, where I live. Land occupation and, in particular, soil sealing, including in watercourses, have amplified the impact of torrential rainfall. The effect on the landscape is also devastating, stripping the city of its character because the appropriate planning standards and regulations are not implemented.

At the same time, there is a noticeable decline in seafood resources, both in abundance and in size. Lower abundance, higher demand and the resulting price increases have made seafood harder to access.

How do these changes redistribute vulnerabilities, resources and land uses? Which groups, activities or ecosystems benefit, which become more exposed, and what choices or conflicts result?

With infrastructure development, local people, because of their more limited financial resources, are being displaced to the city outskirts. Others are losing the landscape views they have enjoyed for many years, or their buildings are becoming more susceptible to damage during torrential rainfall.

Some fish species used to be very affordable, particularly mackerel, which part of the population ate daily. Today, poorer people, who make up a large part of the population, cannot afford a family meal of mackerel. Some marine resources remain affordable, but they are not those of the past.

Construction companies, foreigners and emigrants are the ones benefiting from the land-use pattern being implemented on this island and in other parts of the country.

The foreign fishing fleet, although ostensibly focused on tuna and related fisheries, including sharks, has, in my perception, an impact on the national fleet, which is essentially artisanal. With the technology and equipment used, these migratory resources are caught before they reach the coastal waters accessible to our fishers. As a result, artisanal fishers' catches of these resources have been declining in abundance and size.

In response to these changes, which measures seem most relevant in the territory you study today, and what determines their success or explains their limits?

First, these changes need to be tracked through monitoring and evaluation programmes, both for land use and for fisheries. Only studies that are carried out and made public can effectively demonstrate the impacts. Management measures to reduce those impacts should then be developed and implemented on that basis. In the meantime, until these processes are continuously monitored, measures should be adopted and implemented according to the precautionary principle. For both infrastructure and fisheries, legal instruments are at least minimally sufficient. The greatest shortcomings have been in implementation and enforcement.

As a biological oceanographer, what signs do you observe that climate change is altering the distribution, seasonality or productivity of living marine resources in Cabo Verde? Which observations or data series should be prioritised?

Ocean deoxygenation, particularly in the tropical region, is well documented in the scientific literature. Some studies show effects on the vertical distribution of large marine fish, including tuna, sharks and others. Waters between 200 and 800 metres, which naturally contain less oxygen, have been progressively losing oxygen, limiting these animals' movement into deeper waters. By spending more time near the surface, they become more vulnerable to fishing.

Coral bleaching has also been identified. However, without a monitoring programme, there is no baseline for understanding how this particular problem is evolving, let alone its impact on coastal ecosystems.

Changes along the shoreline, particularly beaches but also coral communities, seem to me to be priorities for a national data collection effort, alongside national and foreign fisheries in Cabo Verde's waters.

Monitoring and evaluating the effects of climate change on large pelagic fish, as transboundary resources, should be the responsibility of supranational fisheries management bodies.

How do these changes affect artisanal fishing, food security and the livelihoods of island communities? Where do scientific knowledge and fishers' knowledge converge or diverge?

Part of this question was answered in question 2. Few studies have been carried out, and there is no organised, publicly accessible database. I would therefore be unable to compare existing scientific knowledge with the body of knowledge held by fishers and other sections of society.

What gaps in knowledge and monitoring currently limit the sustainable management of pelagic, benthic and deep-water biodiversity in Cabo Verde? What role can oceanographic campaigns and long-term observation play?

There is no effective, structured and operational monitoring system. Some harvested species are monitored using landing data. However, much of the data is not even organised, much less analysed. Consequently, few studies are produced from the existing data.

There are very few properly trained marine science professionals in this country. Even if regular oceanographic campaigns were possible, without enough staff to analyse samples and data and produce results in the form of technical reports and scientific papers, we would end up with a wealth of data and samples but no results.

Drawing on your experience directing the WASCAL Climate Change and Marine Sciences programme, how can shipboard training, the Floating University and West African cooperation strengthen the region's scientific capacity over the long term? What obstacles remain to retaining young researchers and maintaining equipment and data?

The master's programme and the Floating University themselves suffer from a shortage of local staff. Our region has few institutions devoted to marine sciences, so employment opportunities are limited. The few institutions that do exist lack staff but often have limited scope to recruit. First-job programmes or work fellowships are therefore needed in these institutions to help young people enter them. They would contribute to the institutions' own development, potentially leading to their permanent recruitment later, or that of other young people.

What institutional mechanisms would better translate marine and climate science into decisions on fisheries, coastal planning and conservation, while ensuring effective participation by ocean-dependent communities?

First, an accessible database and document repository. Whenever a student or researcher needs to conduct a study, much of their time is consumed by an exhaustive process of obtaining data from institutions.

Monitoring programmes should be established and data sharing made mandatory. NGOs already operate several monitoring programmes. The authority responsible for the environment should set standards for conservation work, particularly data collection, and should also receive and make these data available.

Research grants should encourage and facilitate research, particularly using the data that such monitoring programmes would systematically produce.

Alongside results in technical reports and scientific papers, recommendations should be presented, discussed and validated by the scientific and technical community in the relevant fields.

A legal instrument may be needed to require management measures to be developed and justified on the basis of existing scientific knowledge, and validated transparently by the responsible bodies in each field.

Bibliographic information

Type

Article

Date

14 October 2026

Author

Corrine Almeida

Study Centre

ONS

Original language

English

Original document

PDF, 3 pages

Full text

Transcription of the original document

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