Issah Seidu spent years building a research career around dragonflies, damselflies, elephants, and crocodiles, with several published papers to his name in that field. In this Ocean People Profile from Ocean Decoded Live, host Andrew Lewin explains what pulled him away from that work and into sharks: a visit to his fisherman uncle in Ghana that became the founding moment for his country's first dedicated shark, ray, and guitarfish research program.
The shift happened during a trip to his uncle's home in the coastal town of Dixcove, Ghana. Issah watched sharks, rays, and guitarfish laid out for sale on the landing beach, and started asking who was studying these animals. He found almost nothing published on the subject, in Ghana or across the wider Gulf of Guinea. When he told his professors he wanted to switch, they tried to talk him out of it, pointing to the lack of funding infrastructure for marine conservation in West Africa and the shortage of local experts he could turn to. His mother worried the sharks would hurt him. He made the switch anyway, and spent roughly six months earning the trust of his first two fishermen collaborators.
Eight years on, Issah has built a research network spanning close to 15 fishing communities across three regions of Ghana's coastline, with roughly 20 trained fisher biologists and 11 fishermen who've worked with the project since 2019. His findings show sawfish are functionally extinct in Ghana, last seen in the 1980s, and wedgefish have essentially vanished from catches since the 2010s, putting guitarfish at serious risk without further protection. In 2026, that work earned him a Whitley Award, sometimes called conservation's Green Oscar, for a project working toward Ghana's first locally managed marine area. He now mentors the next generation of Ghanaian researchers studying sharks, guitarfish, dolphins, and billfish of their own.
Chapters:
1:23 – The trip to his uncle's fishing village in Dixcove
3:20 – Professors, funding, and a worried mother try to stop him
5:32 – Sawfish extinct, wedgefish vanished, guitarfish next
6:44 – Winning the 2026 Whitley Award and building a marine protected area
8:49 – His advice: be bold, be committed, be persistent
Takeaways:
Issah Seidu spent years as a published researcher studying dragonflies, damselflies, elephants, and crocodiles before shifting his focus to sharks and rays.
The turning point came during a visit to his fisherman uncle in Dixcove, Ghana, where he saw sharks, rays, and guitarfish for sale and realized no one was studying them.
His professors tried to talk him out of switching to sharks, pointing to the lack of funding infrastructure for marine conservation in West Africa and the shortage of local experts to mentor him. His mother worried about his safety.
It took him roughly six months of repeated visits to win over his first two fishermen collaborators.
Eight years later, his research network spans close to 15 fishing communities across three regions of Ghana, with about 20 trained fisher biologists and 11 fishermen who've worked with the project since 2019.
His research found that sawfish are functionally extinct in Ghana (last seen in the 1980s) and wedgefish have essentially vanished from catches since the 2010s, putting guitarfish at risk.
He won a 2026 Whitley Award (the "Green Oscar") for a project working toward Ghana's first locally managed marine area.
He now mentors the next generation of Ghanaian researchers, several of whom study sharks, guitarfish, dolphins, and billfish of their own.
#OceanConservation #MarineBiology #SaveOurOceans #ProtectTheOcean #OceanAwareness #BluePlanet #ConservationMatters #ScienceForChange #SustainableOceans
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow a career in conservation: https://www.conservation-careers.com/online-training/ Use the code SUFB to get 33% off courses and the careers program.
Do you want to join my Ocean Community?
Sign Up for Updates on the process: www.speakupforblue.com/oceanapp
Sign up for our Newsletter: http://www.speakupforblue.com/newsletter
Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3NmYvsI
Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc
YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
