Traditional fishing in Ghana

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  • Fishermen set off to work at sunrise on their small traditional wooden boat near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. The Ghana Ministry of Fisheries estimates to about 500,000 the number of fishermen and fishmongers in Ghana. Up to 2 million people - nearly 10 percent of the country's population - make a living from professions - such as canoe-building - dependent on the fishing industry.
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  • Fishermen pull nets they had left overnight into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • A fisherman pulls in his catch near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Small fish get caught in nets left at sea overnight and retrieved by fishermen in the morning. The increasing presence of international trawlers in Ghanaian waters not only means more competition to capture a declining fish stock, but larger boats often damage the nets of small-scale fishermen by running through them as they pursue fish.
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  • Fishermen set off to work at sunrise on their small traditional wooden boat near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009..
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. The increasing presence of international trawlers in Ghanaian waters not only means more competition to capture a declining fish stock, but larger boats often damage the nets of small-scale fishermen by running through them as they pursue fish.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Ghanaian fishermen have for generations harvested the ocean in a small-scale, sustainable way.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Unlike traditional fishing boats, industrial trawlers are required by law to operate in waters deeper than 30 meters. However, local fishermen frequently report that foreign vessels come much closer to the coast, often destroying their nets and causing important damage to the ocean floor by dragging their nets to maximize their catch.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • A small fish lies on a wooden fishing boat while fishermen pull in their catch a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fishermen pull in their catch into their small wooden boat a few hundred meters away from shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Fish is a staple in the diet of most Ghanaians: it is estimated that up to 60% of animal protein nationwide is derived from fish products.
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  • Fishermen head back to shore near Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009..
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  • Fishermen stand on their boats while cleaning nets under the towering former slave fort of Cape Coast castle in Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Cape Coast's slave-trading days may be long gone but the town is no stranger to modern exploitation. Pirate fishing vessels and illegally-operating foreign trawlers are raping the seas, stealing the town's biggest commodity - its fish.
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  • Fishermen pull in their boat onto the beach after returning from sea in Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009..
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  • Fish and crustaceans lay in a bucket after being brought back from sea by fishermen in Cape Coast roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Local fishermen say that the volume of fish has severely dwindled in recent years with the increased presence of international fishing vessels in Ghanaian waters.
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  • Fishermen clean their nets after returning from sea in Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. "Local jobs are collapsing" says the Ministry of Fisheries' Isiah Amoukouandoh. "It's a difficult balance for the government because foreign trawlers contribute to government funds. If the trawlers stuck to regulations, there would be less of a problem. But they are fishing in the waters reserved for the local fishermen, stealing their fish."
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  • Fish is laid out for sale at the market in Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009.
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  • Fish is laid out for sale at the market in Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, nearly a billion people worldwide depend on fish as their primary source of protein, and 120 million people depend on fishing for all or part of their income, with both kinds of dependence highest in the developing world.
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  • Fish is laid out for sale at the market in Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. In Ghana, women are usually responsible for selling the fish caught by their husbands. Some local fishermen complain that the recent reduction in fish populations is not only making it more difficult for them to support their family, but also often a cause of tension and conflict between husband and wife.
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  • Men and boys sort nets after returning from fishing at sea at the harbor in Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, losses due to illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing are estimated at US$1 billion, roughly a quarter of Africa's total yearly fisheries exports.
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  • Fishing boats in the harbor of Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Global fish stocks are running low; the advocacy group Environmental Justice Foundation says fisheries are in deep decline and could collapse within 50 years if current trends continue. Developing countries like Ghana are among the crisis' first victims.
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  • View of the fishing harbor of Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009..
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  • Local fisherman Nana Kwesi Baesi poses for a portrait on the beach in Cape Coast, roughly 120km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Baesi says foreign vessels regularly destroy the nets laid out by local fishermen. He adds that in recent years, the number of trawlers off the coast has increased dramatically, reducing the amount of fish local fishermen take home everyday. Some local fishermen, says Baesi, have been forced to quit fishing and have taken up armed robbery and other criminal activities to make a living.
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  • Women sell fish at the market in Elmina, about 130km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Thursday April 9, 2009. Ghanaian women are usually responsible for selling the fish caught by their husbands. Some local fishermen complain that the recent reduction in the amount of fish they catch is not only making it more difficult for them to support their family, but can also be a cause of tension and conflict between husband and wife..
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