Kokrobite - Fishing Village

Kokrobite, Ghana, was the destination for our first Christmas holiday away from family and friends. We wanted the comfort of hearing and speaking English with the local people as well as any foreign travelers we hoped to meet.

We traveled by bus, using a Nigerian bus line that runs daily from Lagos, Nigeria, through Benin and Togo, before reaching Accra, Ghana, as the final destination. It took over 10 hours to travel from Cotonou, Benin to Accra, Ghana, a distance of about 240 miles, give or take a few miles. The road west of Cotonou was under reconstruction, and we had to make stops at each border to be checked out and then in again. Note to self: get travel visas for Togo ahead of time rather than bother with the transit visa process! We finally arrived in Kokrobite, a small fishing village on the Atlantic Ocean about 11:30 pm.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokrobite

We wanted to spend our first full day in Ghana familiarizing ourselves with our surroundings, so off to the beach we went. Our accommodations at Big Milly's Backyard were next to an area where the fishing boats were beached when not in use. There were small boats, pictured below, and larger boats, each one used differently. The smaller boats were powered by paddling, whereas the larger boats were powered by outboard motors.

Beached boats, loaded with nets. Notice the men under the sail/awning are mending nets.

We struck up a conversation with one of the local men, Joel, who eventually explained the process to us. The nets were taken out at least twice a day, early in the morning and then later, before noon. The first haul appeared to be a skimming of the top of the water with the nets. Most mornings when we were eating breakfast, we watched the men and boys lay the nets over the boats and pluck out small fish and then arrange/organize the nets for the next time.

We were never around to see the process of setting out the nets, but were able to watch and then help out with the second catch of the day. For this particular catch, many people were needed to haul in the nets. It's a bit hard to explain, but it goes something like this.

Each net is about 100 meters long and 3 meters wide. The net is taken out with buoys attached to one side of the net and long ropes attached to each end of the net. Once the nets are set, they are slowly pulled in by people on the shore. A boat is tending the net all the while. At first, each end of the net and the rope attached to it are located a hundred meters or so from each other on the shore. Slowly the nets are pulled in by the ropes, with people pulling on each rope. The men in the boat tending the net in the ocean are in charge of communicating when and how quickly to pull in the nets.

These men are pulling on one of the two ropes attached to the net. In the far distance are people doing the same with the other end of the net/rope set-up.

Here's the log used to help pull in the nets, with lots of rope marks on it.

Eventually more people came to help as the net was pulled in closer to shore.

A few women joined in as well as some of the children from the village.

I stepped in to lend a hand, too! When would I ever have this chance again, I thought to myself.

Eventually, more and more villagers showed up and the two sides of the net were angled closer together as the middle of the net, where the fish were, was carefully brought in.

The two sides of the net are brought closer together.

Unfortunately, the net that Donn and I helped to bring in got a tear in it going over some rocks before reaching the shore. Everyone was disappointed! Some fish were still in the net, but not enough to be shared by all.

Here's a shot of hauling in a net on a different day.

It seems that there are many nets set out to collect fish this way. It happens all along the shore line. When the fish are finally on the shore, that's when the women show up with big basins to load up with the fish. We aren't quite sure how the sharing of the catch happens, but it looks like anyone from the village who helped out can claim some of the fish, either for personal use or for selling in the fish markets in Accra.

The third way the fish were caught was by fishing farther out from shore. The big boats were used for this method.

Big boats for offshore fishing.

 The bigger boats would go out in the afternoon and return with buckets full of larger fish. Joel explained that the fishermen who were out in the boats would receive a physical share of the fish as well as a monetary share from any fish that were sold in the market. The women would gather the fish once they were brought in and then process the fish, mostly on the shore. We stayed away from the water/sand were the fish were processed, to be sure!

Processing the fish.

Joel's wife, Comfort, cleaning smaller fish at her market stall.

We were in the village six out of the nine days were weren't traveling to, from, or around the area. Fishing happened each day we were there, except for Christmas Eve. I was curious about the sustainability of fishing so often. It appears, though, that over-fishing isn't a problem. Their traditional methods allow for catching some, but not all of, the fish available at any given time. The same definitely cannot be said for industrial fishing.

I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to watch and participate with the people of the village. They live a very simple life, day to day, providing for the immediate needs of their families while hoping to improve the opportunities for their children. Joel's oldest son will be going to university soon, thanks to the scrimping and saving that his parents have done from fishing and selling items in their market stall.