Journal ArticleStrengthening Ocean Science Capacity: Insights from the West Africa Marine Science SymposiumMahu, Edem; Luthringer, Julia; Koranteng, Kwame; Kailey_Ankrah, AnnetteUniversity_of_Ghana<p>West Africa has an extensive coastline stretching 7,367 km over 12 mainland countries and two archipelagos. The region’s coastal and marine ecosystems are among the most productive and biologically diverse in the world. However, the ocean resources are under intense anthropogenic pressures encompassing pollution, habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, overfishing, and climate-change-​induced sea level rise. These challenges call for science-based and community-led actions to reverse current negative trends. Unfortunately, poor capacity to understand West Africa’s ocean is an age-old struggle by scientists in the region, and it remains among the least studied globally.</p>The Oceanography Society2025-01-0110599669Oceanography3811042-8275https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2025.1202318309National Science Foundation