This study examines the response of women to disruptions caused by COVID-19 in small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG). It interrogates the concept of resilience and its potential for mitigating women’s vulnerability in times of adversity. We define resilience as the ability to thrive amidst shocks, stresses, and unforeseen disruptions. Drawing on a focus group discussion, in-depth interviews with key informants from Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria, and a literature review, we highlight how COVID-19 disruptions on seafood demand, distribution, labour and production acutely affected women and heightened their pre-existing vulnerabilities. Women responded by deploying both negative and positive coping strategies. We argue that the concept of resilience often romanticises women navigating adversity as having ‘supernatural’ abilities to endure disruptions and takes attention away from the sources of their adversity and from the governments’ concomitant failures to address them. Our analysis shows reasons for “ocean optimism” while also cautioning against simplistic resilience assessments when discussing the hidden dangers of select coping strategies, including the adoption of digital solutions and livelihood diversification, which are often constructed along highly gendered lines with unevenly distributed benefits.

The Blue Economy is a global initiative aimed at using marine resources to create economic viability and environmental sustainability. While successes have been reported, for example, in Europe and China, examples of African successes are notably missing. Abject poverty, unemployment and food insecurity are everyday concerns on the African continent; however, its large latitudinal coverage gives rise to extremely biodiverse marine fauna, which could promote socio-economic development of coastal communities through initiatives such as sustainably-managed fisheries. In order to improve sustainability via improved management, information on a species and its habitat is needed, particularly how it moves and in which areas it occurs. Acoustic telemetry is a powerful tool used to determine the movements of aquatic animals, the success of which has led to the development of several large-scale networks throughout the globe, including South Africa’s Acoustic Tracking Array Platform. This network, formally in place for the last decade, has now matured, and data are revealing insights into residency, habitat connectivity and transboundary movements of a multitude of animals, with some species having been continually detected for the past 10 years. These data are also actively being incorporated into marine spatial planning efforts, with the aim of protecting threatened and endemic species. Due to knowledge generation, successful benefit-sharing arrangements, and dedication to engage with the public and other stakeholder groups, the ATAP represents a highly successful example of ocean stewardship in Africa.