Fishing Canoes in Elmina Harbour

Elmina Castle was built by Portuguese traders in 1482. One of several "castles" or trading forts along Ghana's coast, slaves and trade products from Africa were held here awaiting the arrival of cargo ships from Europe and the Americas. Today, Elmina Castle has been restored as an historical monument and tourism site.

Hauling a Canoe to Shore at Kromantse Nkum

The fishing village of Kromantse Nkum has no natural harbour or inlet, and canoes must be hauled to shore daily. After the catch is divided and distributed to waiting market women and "fishwives," the crew and others drag the canoe up the beach on rollers, until it is above the high tide mark.

Outboard Motors

Outboard motors were introduced to Ghana's artisanal fishing sector in the late 1950s. By 1974, approximately 25% of the artisanal fleet was motorized, and today over half of Ghana's 8,610 canoes are motorized. Initially, the government provided loan schemes for fishermen to purchase motors through the Agricultural Development Bank, but these programs were shortly discontinuted due to low repayment rates. Today, fishtraders are the most important source of finance for fishermen's equipment, and fishermen often repay their loans in fish, rather than cash.

Repairing the Nets

Prior to the introduction of imported nets in the Gold Coast, fishing gear consisted of hook and line, and cast nets and small set nets made of palm fibers. Fanti fishermen began using large rectangular nets from about 1850 onward. The most common net in use today is the Adii or Ali net, a drifiting gill net which measures up to 400 yards in length, with a mesh size of 1 ¾ inches. The Adii has also been adapted into a purse seine, in which case it is called a Sarti. An old or damaged net is rarely discarded, but rather constantly re-worked and sewn together with newer pieces to make a useable whole.

Smoking Ovens

After birefi (shares of fish) are brought from the landing area, fishtraders clean the fish, and then stack them neatly in smoking ovens. The round oven is the traditional style, originally constructed from mud. A net is set into the top of the oven upon which the fish is laid out, and a fire is lit below. In 1983, a UNICEF project attempted to improve fish-smoking ovens, resulting in the rectangular ovens seen on the left of the photo. These ovens allowed fishtraders to use stackable trays and thus smoke more fish at one time. However, these improved ovens have amounted to a relatively minor improvement in fish-smoking, and are not financially attainable for a majority of fishtraders in Cape Coast.

Oware

Ghana's fishing seasons are dictated by a cool water upwelling which normally occurs from July to October, and can last up to eighteen weeks, but sometimes does not occur at all. A smaller upwelling lasts for approximately three weeks between December and February. Cooler ocean waters during the upwelling season produce increased amounts of plankton and attract schools of fish, particularly schools of Sardines (Sardinella aurita) which is a staple fish in West Africa. Outside of these upwelling cycles, there is less work for fishermen and fishtraders, and the board game oware is a popular and very competitive pastime.

Kotokuraba Market

This is the smoked fish section of the larger of the two markets in Cape Coast (the other being Anaafo). Kotokuraba Market accounts for over 80 per cent of retail and wholesale stalls in Cape Coast, and is managed by the Municipal Council which collects fees from traders for its upkeep. In the pink head scarf on the left is Nana Araba Mensah, the President of the Cape Coast Fishtraders' Association.

Fieldwork with Nana Derby

My field assistant, Nana Derby, was a senior studying sociology at the University of Cape Coast when this research was conducted in 1995-96. She is now a graduate student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Florida International University. Nana is half Fanti and half Ashanti, and is fluent in both of those Akan dialects, as well as English. Apart from being a friend and cultural interpreter of the highest caliber, Nana's greatest qualification for the job was being a disc-jockey of a quite popular radio show on the local university station every afternoon. If ever our informants were flagging in their enthusiasm to sit through one more interview, Nana would send out dedications and special songs to the fishtraders and their families, ensuring a continued pleasant reception for us in the market and in the homes of our informants.