Ghana’s existing policies for social development cover fishing communities and yet, fail to address them specifically. The needs of rural and geographically isolated fishing communities are ignored. Urban fishers tend to benefit more from social development interventions and have a better quality of life compared to their rural counterparts. Despite this disparity in access to aid, the overall conditions of fishers across the country is dire—characterized by high poverty, food insecurity, hazardous working environment and poor social infrastructure. Our research has found that existing legislation and policy does not have a clear human rights-based approach to social development. Communities are yet to be empowered to participate in decision-making and management of fishery resources.