Socrates Apetorgbor Segbor is a fisheries governance and marine conservation leader based in Ghana, with over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of policy reform, community resilience, and sustainable ocean management in West Africa. He is the Country Director and co-founder of GFRA LBG, a national NGO established in 2025 to advance transparent, inclusive, and science-based fisheries governance following the close-out of the USAID Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity.
Socrates has played a central role in shaping Ghana’s fisheries reform agenda, including work on inshore fisheries protection, co-management systems, enforcement transparency, and Marine Protected Area (MPA) planning. He has led or supported nationally significant initiatives such as the extension of Ghana’s Inshore Exclusion Zone, development of a national MPA strategy and site-specific planning in the Greater Cape Three Points area, and multi-stakeholder dialogue informing Ghana’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2025 (Act 1146). His work regularly engages government ministries and agencies, artisanal and industrial fishing groups, civil society, academia, and international partners.
Beyond technical policy work, Socrates is deeply committed to strengthening local institutions and leadership. He has supported the formation and capacity-building of fisheries co-management committees, promoted gender-responsive approaches in fisheries and coastal livelihoods, and worked to integrate community knowledge with formal governance systems. His leadership approach emphasizes trust-building, accountability, and long-term systems change. Socrates collaborates with a wide range of regional and international partners, including government bodies, research institutions, and philanthropic foundations, and is actively involved in regional cooperation across the Gulf of Guinea. Through the Edinburgh Ocean Leaders Programme, he hopes to deepen his leadership practice, reflect critically on the personal dimensions of leadership, and contribute to a global community working to advance equitable and resilient ocean futures.
