MSU LIBRARIES n » RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped beIow. , ,5av.;,oa.ys..-a:;« 47R 7fdfiiffi’ gry £35353 1‘ 51 JUN I 213%; SOCIAL AND PRODUCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ARTISANAL MARITIME FISHERIES OF WEST AFRICA A Comparative Analysis BY Mariteuw Chimere Diaw A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of th requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology 1983 © COPYRIGHT BY MARITEUW CHIMERE DIAW I983 c a. nu- ..." L.‘ W‘l.‘ ~~.'J . u... 7: An... . Y“: ‘1 I-s, .’ _ 1' ii‘rr ~U.' 1-..,,‘ A, «4- “.~ N A. _ x. I . ~ o . L J. l‘ .. ‘t 1 ~ A I :3 I. . ABSTRACT SmIAL AND PRODLKITION REIATICNSHIPS IN THE ARTISANAL MARITIME FISHERIES OF WEST AFRICA 'By Mariteuw Chimere Diaw Sea-based activities and marine fishing communities have long been ignored by sociological inquiry. Only recently did a new body of literature in the social sciences start to deal significantly with fishermen, their history and social organization. In West Africa and Senegal, in particular, more attention has generallyheen given to other aspects of fisheries organization than to a systematic investigation of the labor process in fishing units and its dynamic. This thesis is designed to fill this gap. It organizes and interpret a largely scattered and unrelated literature on West African fishing into one single frame of comparative analysis. It locates fishing comnmities in the political economy of precolonial states in West Africa and looks at their position in the social processes of exchange, appropriation and conflicts in the area. This thesis finds that the production systems of fishing commities in modern times, their ethnic characteristics, their patterns of economic specialization, social division of labor and migrations are determined by differing sets of constraints and determinants among which ecological constraints and market penetration a. D. g 4 cos '.I «on: s " ':£oo- . fl »- '1‘? H. our. u, o.‘ n a '4- ... ‘a‘ .o 5“. ‘IO. o 3' In "uv play a Prominent role. The analysis goes to the roots of fish production in coastal West Africa, i.e., its mode of production. This latter is broken down in its constitutive elements and various teChnOIOQical developments in the means of production are assessed. One of the most. fundamental findings, based on the elaboration of a mathematical formula describing the share system, is that, as technology moves from the simpler to the more complex, individual fishermen‘s share of the surplus declines steadily while the return to capital increases. In addition, ownership of fishing units is increasingly _ individualized and concentrated and the production sphere increasingly penetrated by market forces. These changes equally affect technical relations of production within which labor is increasingly separated from the means of production, socially and economically hierarchized and fragmented. An initial attempt toward the modelization of the production process in artisanal fishing summarizes the thesis. ACKNONLEmEMENTS This project was started eight months ago without a full awareness of the whole range of difficulties lying ahead. Today, it is with a sense of great relief that I feel that this whole intellectual and learning experience was worthwhile. A tremendous amount of thanks is owed to all those who helped make it possible. First of all, I extend my sincere gratitude to Chris vanderpool for his constant, straightforward and patient professional support throughout my stay at MSU. Above all, I thank him for sharing his works, ideas and references, for caring and for his friendship. I am also greatly indebted to Alan Beegle and Craig Harris, both, members of my advisory committee. The end of my training in the USA is, fbr me, the occasion to remember that Dr. Beegle was among the first to welcome me at Michigan State university. Craig has shared some of his experience with me, in particular, his work on Michigan fishermen. Both have always been willing to assist and I am grateful to them for having accepted, on short notice,to go through the entire manuscript and to indicate ways to improve it in its content as well as its form. I am thankful to all the people in the Sociology Department - graduate students, faculty and staff - who have helped in a way or another, in particular, Jo—Ann and also Kim for the great job done in typing this thesis. This work is dedicated to my friends and beloved, Yacine, Souleymane and Abdoulaye. They have been an irreplacable and loving source of joy and support through the very difficult campus life. Yacine, in particular, has been part of this research process from its inception by sharing ideas on various aspect of the subject and by spending nights typing part of this work. Without the deep and touching friendship of many, this whole training process would have been meaningless as a human and social experience. For that, I want to thank each and everyone of my Senegalese friends and colleagues in the united States and their families, the dearest personal friends earned in Lansing, be they American. or [Afro-American, from Asia, the Middle East or from the [African community in Lansing. I hope that this little piece of work will be useful to the working people of west Africa. ii 5" [I- up-- .a 9 - uu'v- Q‘w '- U- . a... .. ‘1‘ o . p". I' ‘I .- h L.‘ o TABLE Q§_CONTENTS PAGE LIST (I TABLES V1° LIST or FIGURES _ v I. INTRODUCTIW 1 II. THE RESOURCES or THE OCEAN: 17 Life Processes in the Eastern-Central-Atlantic l. The Continental Shelf 18 2. The Coastal Upwellings 20 3. Climatological Conditions and their 23 Impact on Resources and Population Distribution 4. The Fishery Resources 26 III. WEST AFRICANS AND THEIR AQJATIC ENVIRONMENT 29 IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 1. Early Fishing in Prehistoric Africa, 30 2. The Atlantic Ocean 33 3. Fishers in the Political Economy of 35 West African States During the Middle Ages 3.1 The Savanna states and the 36 Riverine complexes 3.1.1 Fishermen, their Social 40 Organization and the State 3.1.2 The Canoe, Trade and Warfare 45 3.2 The West Atlantic Coast 48 3.2.1 The peopling of the Coast and 49 the Political Dominance of the Hinterland States iii cor. ‘l .‘. J. "I '7 I” at... V cl Q .0 h l‘ho‘ “o;.-\ . l“ ’ I 4. 3.2.2 Fishing and the Littoral Economy 3.3 The Gulf of Guinea 3.3.1 The Rise of States on the Guinea Coast 3.3.2 Lagoon, Riverine and Coastal Communities of Fishers in the Political Economy of the Gulf of Guinea 3) The Gold Coast b) Ancient Dahomey c) The Niger Delta The Closing of a Historical Epoch IV. THE [ARGE- AND S'IALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN THE QUITEXT 0F MODERN MARITIME FISHIAC DEVELOPMENTS 1. Industrial Fishing Developments through - the 1970 's 5. The Competition between Large— and Small- scale Fisheries PRODLKITICN AND HUMAN DIMENSION IN THE FISHERIES OF WEST AFRICA General Characteristics of the west African Fishing Population The Ethnic Dimension in‘West African Fishing Specialization and Complementarity in Maritime Fishing Communities The Social Division of Labor in Fishing Communities Migration Trends in the Artisanal Fisheries of west Africa 5.1 Regulated Fishing Migrations 5.2 Migrations of Labor In and Out of the Small-scale fisheries VI. THE MCDE OF PRODUCTION IN ARTISANAL MARITIME FISHING 1. 2.. The Theoretical Status of the Marine Resource Means and Technical Conditions of Production iv 52 57 57 60 60 69 73 78 78‘ 83 87 88 90 92 104 108 109 119 124' 126 132 VII. in west African Artisanal raritime Fisheries 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 a) b) c) d) e) Canoes and boats in West Africa The Motorization of the Small-scale Fleet in West Africa Fishing Gear Technology in the Artisanal Fisheries Line Fishing Cast-Netting Beach Seining Gillnets in west Africa The Purse Seine Technological Intermix and Production Relationships 3. The Relations of Production in Artisanal Fisheries 3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 CONCLUSION The Technical Relations of Production The Cbmposition of Fishing Crews The Technical Division of Labor Appropriation and Ownership in Fishing Units Share System and Surplus Appropriation: An Economic Analysis of Fishing Units. A/’ The General Formula of the Share System a) Analysis of the Components of the Formula b) The Modalities of Catch Sharing 8/ Issues in Catch Sharing Ownership, Capital and Market Forces A/ Ownership 134 143 150 154 155 155 156 160 162 163 164 164 174 181 181 182 186 192 203 207 208 B/ Fishmongers, Money-lenders and Fishermen 215 228 10. 11. LIST _O_F__ TABLES Artisanal Maritime Fishing in West African Countries Major West African Fishing Groups by Country of Origin, Ethnicity and Occupation Boat Characteristics in 5 West African Countries Artisanal Fishing Gear Technology An Example of Technological Refinement: Gillnets in Senegal Kinship Structure in Biriwa, Cape Coast and Ham Crews The SVmbols of the Snare Formula Equations of the Share Formula Sumnary of Surplus Product Appropriation by Capital and Labor and their Constitutive Elements in Selected West African Cases Relations of Correspondence between the Modes or Forms of Production and the Relations of Appropriation Relations of Correspondence between Modes or Forms of Production and Technical Conditions and Relations of Production vi 88a 90a 135 151 152 169 183 191 204 235 236 19. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. LIST 9; FIGURES The western Coast of.Africa and the CECAF Region 19 Geographical limitation of CECAF subdivisions 19 Coastal Temperatures and Upwelling areas in February 22 Coastal Temperatures and Upwelling areas in September 22 Seasonal Migrations of ITCZ in July 25 Seasonal Migrations of ITCZ in January 25 Major African States Through the Nineteenth Century 37 'Location of Selected Ethnic Groups 38 International FTshing Migrations in west Africa: 112 A.Summary The Components of the Mode of Production ' 125 Propulsion Technology' 138 Sample of west African Canoes 139 The Senegalese Pirogue 141 Artisanal Fishing Gear Technology' 153 Basic Relationships in Fish Production 233 Techno-Ecological Impact and Heavy Trends in the 234 System and Mode of Production Capital Accumulation as a variable of Relations of 237 Appropriation variables in Labor Renumeration and in the Determination 238 of Fishermen' 5 Income Processing Sector: variable Breakdown (simplified version)239 .Marketing and Distribution Sector: variable Breakdown 240 consumption (variable Breakdown) ’241 vii I. Introduction ”My personal preference is for a technocentric approach, hdth the fish first, the economics second, and ,the social problems a distant third.” ...A fisheries biologist (Larkin, in Emerson, 1980:7). It is. generally acknowledged today that most of the world resources are concentrated in the oceans which represent more than 70% of the earth surface. They include living and non-living resources; the latter ranging from hydrocarbons, minerals (gold, manganese nodules, sulphur, bromine, etc...), gravel and sand to sources of energy such as thermal gradients (based on.temperature differences between top and bottom layers of ocean waters), waves, current and tides (vanderpool, 1981). Despite centuries of exploitation of the ocean living resources by human populations, only recently did mankind as a whole, gain ’a full awareness of marine potential. This growing awareness of the importance of both biotic and abiotic ocean resources is best highlightened by the worldwide attention, accorded by 'bhg' and 'small' nations alike, to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III)1. For the first time in history, in a radical departure from the implicit 'rule of capture' upon which was based the era of colonial expansions, the status of 'common heritage of mankind' has been given to a resource - the deep sea - second only to land in the life of societies. Among other outcomes of the Conference, the adoption of 200 nautical miles EXclusive Economic Zone by most of the coastal states involved, appears as an important development; full of As an outcome of UNCLOS III, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in April, 1982. 1 \u I“ C ‘ 5-1 {If consequences for the development in particular of fisheries and associated living resources of the sea. These new developments are indicators of the broad context of which sociological research in the roarine area must remain aware. Marine resources, in general, and fisheries, in particular, can generate a variety of benefits to 'developing' countries. These benefits include increasing the supply of food and improving nutrition, generating an important source of foreign exchange earnings, increasing employment opportunities, and raising the standard of living of communities dependent upon income from the sea (Gulland, in Vanderpool et al., 1983). For the time being, the prime interest remains with the study of artisanal fisheries, 'particularly _in 'Senegal and west Africa. As a partial requirement vfor: the M.Aiiiin Marine (Rural) Sociology, a Comrative Analysis o_f_ the 'Social and; Production Relationships characterizing selected Artisanal Maritime ‘Fisheries ‘g£_ west Africa will be the focus. Particular emphasis will be put on the small-scale fisheries of Senegal and also Ghana, examined from the perspective of the producer - the artisanal fisherman. Statement pf the Problem Historically, sociologists in general, and human ecologists in particular, have largely ignored the marine area as a focal point of inquiry (vanderpool, 1981). The field of marine science being largely dominated by 'pure' scientists, fish production was perceived essentially from a biologiCal perspective - 'through the eyes, of the fish, not those of the fisherman'. 'Study the fish' was the motto' and I [u u sophisticated catch equations to maximize present and future returns from the living aquatic resource were elaborated. The concept of Maximum.$ustainable Yield (MSY), that is the largest quantity of fish, try size, weight and species that can be continuously caught in a given .fishery, was at the center of the intellectual developments of that time (Enmerson, 1988). Starting in the 1950's, the biological concept <1f MSY became challenged by fisheries economists and opposed to the concept of Maximum Economic Yield (MEY), that is the difference between total cost over total value production in a fishery (Ibid). Instead of maximum sustainable yield, 'maximum sustainable profit' became the credo in resource management circles, underlying the growing influence of neo-classical resource economists in the field of maritime ’science. Only’ in .the mid-76's did a new approach, backed by the concept of ‘ Optimum Sustainable Yield (OSY), try to integrate social considerations and the interests of fishing communities in management objectives based on biological and economic considerationsz. As a whole, however, research in marine fisheries has, so far, been largely dominated by management-related issues. In Emerson's ranking of four disciplines according to their ‘respective share of the scholarly literature on fisheries (1980), biology comes first, resource economics second, international law third, anthropology and community studies, a distant fourth. Sociology is not even mentioned. The recent development of a significant body of literature in maritime Anthropology and Sociology has been centered on the conviction For an in—depth discussion of intellectual developments in resource management circules, see the excellent 'state—of-the— art paper of Emmerson (1980). .o“ . ’. 0“. IF . on an. L- ..‘..v‘ ‘91.. 'o ”u. ‘- I '2' Z ‘No. \. . -" : s. .' . u a 3.3 “.4. :D. ‘ \\ n . a \ '.'- . .u - 3. ‘. kw . u- v. o .1 ~ "1 ‘3‘ . a 5- a't .‘. ‘I 15' . 'x § that "a concern for the environment, for food, for productivity, for the economy, cannot exclude man” (Smith, 1977). Such a literature has been largely independent from management issues without ignoring ‘however, the weight of ecology and of the biological dimension of the xnarine eco-niche (See Charest, 1981; Harris, 1978; Faris, 1977; Pollnac, 1976). Boosted by the official recognition in North America of maritime anthropology as a subfield of social anthropology at the beginning of the 1978's, several studies have been done, since then, by scholars attracted by this new, wide-open field of investigation. So far, the foci of such research have varied considerably and have been characterized, to some extent, by a certain 'theoretical eclectism’ (Breton, 1981). Ranking high among the problems tackled by marine anthropology, is the question of kinship and systems of descent (Quinn, 1971; Paris, 1971; Andersen & wadel, 1972), articulated sometimes to the question of ethnicity (verdeaux, 1981). The issue of social change in fishing communities appears also as an overwhelming concern of scholars coming from a wide array of theoretical perspectives. Some, from the standpoint of occupational sociology/anthropology, have abundantly discussed the issues of technological and cultural change (Pollnac, 1976, 1982; Pollnac & Littlefield, 1981) or have looked at labor 'as being deprived of control over its product and over the conditions of its work' (Harris, 1978). Technological change has also been the focus of Christensen's research efforts in Ghana (1977, 1982) and, interestingly enough, of Pi-Sunyer in a Catalan fishing community (1977). In some instances, the concern for the necessity to understand patterns of maintenance and 4 . .. . 4 "' -_ .. . 1 -~ 5" O 0"!“ ’.:O: u~ .... a f' it: Q. ._.'~ ‘. u o ‘I ‘.l a. 1.. l o. ‘3 I‘- «._§, ‘ Q ..M 1‘ ;. . . ‘ \ . .9. cduange in marine communities had lead to the advocacy of Social Impact :Assessment modeling (vanderpool, 1983b). Finally, as part of this larger discussion on social transformations in maritime communities, a number of scholars, largely inspired by the French school of Marxist anthropology3, have been attempting to highlight the specificity of coastal fishing as 'a process of labor' and to relate it to the {question of the breaking up of peasant societies and to the debate about market exchange in economic anthropology (Breton, 1981). To reach this end, several of these scholars have made the concept of 'mode of production', developed earlier in France and Africa, instrumental in the study of fishing communities and their social relations of production. To be cited are the work of the Laval Department of Anthropology in Quebec, as well as overseas, in Mexico, venezuella (Breton, 1973, 1977) and Brazil (Giasson, 1981), scholars from the Afrika Studie Centrum of Leiden, who worked in Ghana (vercruijsse, 1988) and Senegal (De ange, 1980), individual contributors such as J. Paris (1977), Hendrix, (1983) and young researchers such as (Sene, 1982). So far, this new body of work has been still stammering and has been characterized by a few discrepancies remaining at the level of the theory as well as the adequacy of that latter to the reality it purpots to describe and interpret. Nevertheless, within the new' theoretical Among the most prominent proponents of this school of thought are scholars such as Meillassoux, 1965; Godelier, 1963; Bettelheim, 1968; Terray, 1969; Althusser, 1965; Rey, 1973; Fossaert, 1977; Pallnix, 1973; Ballibar, 1974; Amin, 1973 (who is more often associated with the 'dependency' school). This body of work entered the English language around the 1970's through the work among others of Hindess and Hirst (1975, 1978). I. ‘I. Q o - '- - vaa' ..' . O -oa“ ' av. - -..A.- a ,. “I‘ .‘ *3. :‘V’ ~‘l' .I- "1 '..'II ouc‘u‘ '- - ~0~aa ll -ho.o.¢. ‘1" “A. 's:. 4.. I . "" up ‘ $...., 5'- . w. .; .1”): we C..>': u ‘0 i‘ .- ~ . ‘1 x "‘ :o. \ '|~ ‘1‘: A. V. \- «N. ". ’ . O“ I ‘ h framework, fundamental epistemological issues raised by a scholar such ems Firth (1946) some thirty years earlier, have been revived and given a new shedlight. In particular, how are fishermen and fishing communities different «or similar to farmers and rural peasant communities? What is the peculiarity of the resource in marine fishing and what effect does it have on social and economic processes in the area? What are the forces of labor cooperation in fishing crews and what are the corresponding distributional arrangements? What are the structure of ownership and the relations of production and appropriation between capital and labor? What is the nature of the 'share system' in fishing? Who owns what and how is the social product and the surplus value distributed anong the actors of the production process? that is the mode of production in maritime fishing and what are the effect of technological change on this latter and on social relations of production? Half a century of anthropological and social research in maritime communities - particularly in Asia and Latin America - legitimate such producer-centered interrogations. ' These concerns are further justified, insofar as the present study is concerned, by the fact that with a ten year lag, west African artisanal maritime fisheries are undergoing the same technological transformations observed earlier in Asia and Oceania. Available information overwhelmingly show' that in those fisheries, the infusion of new performing technologies (outboard motor, purse seine...) has led to dramatic changes in the social relations of production and in the economic standing of ordinary fishermen. The pioneering work of British anthropologists in Melanesia (Malynowski, 1922), Polynesia and Malaysia (Firth, 1939, 1944) - literally 'forgotten' by generations of social scienctists - is in that perspective, being reevaluated today as offering a highly pertinent frame of interpretation (Emmerson, 198E; Pollnac, 1981; Breton, 1981). Raymond Firth in particular, by covering and following social events in the Malaysian area of Kelantan over a period of 23 years, provide a yet-to-be-matched scientific experience. During that period, Firth could see how; the introduction of outboard motors and purse seines (both of which became particularly significant in the early 1960's), had triggered radical changes in the fishing community. From lift-netting in 1948, to purse seining in 1963, the share of catch value going to labor had decreased from approximately. 3/5 to 2/5. Given that purse seiving required a larger crew than lift-netting, the decline in the individual fisherman's share was even ’ greater. Correlatively, the gross return to capital and management had increased for 2/5 to 3/5 of the take (Emmerson, 1989). Moreover, in the 23 year period, the number of fishermen dispossessed of any capital went up both absolutely and proportionately, a new class of fish dealers arose who controlled not only marketing but productive equipment as well; the system's center of gravity had shifted from sea operations to land-based dealer-owner-managers; ”the Malay (fishermen) had become, in effect, a wage earner at a piece rate for a Chinese financier-owner-dealer" (Emmerson, 1988; Pollnace, 1981; Firth, 1946). ' Similar changes have also been observed in Grenada, Peru, Brazil, venezuela, Japan, Southern Thailand.4 There, increased sophistication of fishing equipment has had the effect of increasing social distance See Epple (1977) and Sabella (1974) cited by Pollnac (1988); Giasson (1981); Breton (1977); Norr and Norr (1974); vanderpool (1981); Norbeck (1954) and Fraser (1958) cited in Emerson, 198E. w..., h '. t. , (and social inequality among the actors of the production process and of creating conditions for the relative, if not absolute, pauperisation of ordinary'fishermen. The present study is rooted in the intellectual tradition initiated by Firth and which is still in a process of defining and refining its epistemological tools, after a theoretical gap that lasted nearly thirty years. Its aim is to grasp the social dynamic at work in artisanal maritime fisheries and to reveal the driving force behind the changes taking place in coastal communities of fishermen. As such, it claims to be a contribution to the general literature on fisheries, from the standpoint of sociological research. By centering its focus on fishing communities and their social relations of production, it stands also as a contribution to sociology in general, by examining an area of primary production largely neglected by this discipline. Since it came to a start, in 1979, the main thrust of the socio-economic section of the Oceanographic Research Center of Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT) in Senegal, has been to work toward a global, holistic understanding of the fish 'circuit' in that country, from the hunting-production stage of the process to the marketing, processing, distribution and consumption of the product. In its emphasis on Senegalese as well as other west African fisheries, this thesis must be considered as an integral part of the on-going body of work being realized by’ CRODT. In that respect, it strives to be innovative in three different ways: 1) This study intends to fill a void in the literature on Senegalese fisheries. This literature, so far, has made very valuable breakthroughs in the study of fishing communities and their history (Chauveau, 1981, 1982a, 1982b, 1983a, 1983b; Van Chi, 1967a, 1967b, 1977), wholesale and retail marketing (Cornier, 1981; CRODT, l982)5, artisanal and industrial processing (Duranc, 1981; Deme, 1982), artisanal and semi-industrial fishing (Kebe, 1981) and in the study of the overall connections among the various elements of the fish chain as ‘well as their significance in terms of research and policy making Gdeber, 198B; weber and Freon, 1981; Weber, 1982b). However, n systematic anaysis has been provided so far, with regard to production relationships, patterns of ownership and catch sharing and more generally, on the various transformations taking place in the sphere of direct fish production.6 2) By focusing on fish production and producers in west Africa and not merely in Senegal, this study develops a comparative dimension which has been seriously lacking, not only in Senegal but in the region as a whole. Apart from a 5-year project of the comity on Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries) (CECAF) submitted for funding in 1988 and which earlier results - if approved - should come around 1985 ('Projet de Recherche sur la Peche Artisanale en Afrique de l'ouest" Lawson - OOPACE, 1988), no attempt has been made up to now, toward a study of coastal fishing from a regional perspective. While fish stocks and fishermen have largely ignored the national boundaries inherited from Chaboud's, 1981-study of wholesale marketing ('mareyage') had not been published by March 1983 (see Weber, 1982a). Diaw (1981) addresses those issues, but on a limited scale, within the framework of a monograph on bgeach seini fishing. weber's economic monitoring of 88 fishing units is based on an interesting agenda, but its results were not published as of March, 1983 (see Weber, 19823). 10 colonization, the state of scientific research, and marine research in particular, it still marked by its recent colonial past and by artificial divisions along linguistic and colonial lives. This work is therefore a first attempt to move beyond those divisions and to identify and interpret, from the literature, the social processes relevant to a theoretical perspective on West African fishing communities. 3) As such, this thesis intention lays a foundation for further field investigation in the region, by verifying conceptually a literature characterized by the diversity of its object as well as its theoretical support. Out of this work, significant variables will eventually come out. They could then, be built up into a sociological model of West African fishing with primary focus on social relations of production. A first attempt toward sociological modeling relevant to artisanal fishing in west Africa, such a model - by definition a reduction of reality - is meant to be a working model. Primarily concerned with production, for the integration of all the 'moments' of the fish 'circuit' is largely beyond the scope of a M.A. thesis, it could provide a basis for a social impact modeling of the sector as a whole. From the standpoint of oceanographic research at large, it can be an instrument toward the establishment of a sociological framework which, articulated to other economic and biological information, would help understand, assess and even forecast the impact on the system of any of the initiatives - planned as well as spontaneous - which are in the process'of shaping the very future of canoe-fishing in Senegal and in the region as a whole. Sumnagy 2f Objectives and Methodological AsEgts Overall, this study of west African fishing communities and of the various social forces through which these communities have organized their productive activities, is (concerned with_the 'problematique' present in two sets of dynamics: — The analogies and specifities among west African production systems. - The internal dynamic of the mode(s) of production in fishing, and the evaluation of this latter in response to the changes — both technological social - which have been taking place in the sector. More specifically, the thesis objectives can be summarized by the following points: 1) To identify, locate and organize the available literature on West African fishery communities relevant to their history, social organization and production relationships; 2) To undertake, on the basis of this literature, a comparative analysis of the major trends and critical linkages that can be identified in west African fishing and enhance the perspective on Senegalese and other national fisheries by looking at the organization of sea fishing at the scale of the region; 3) To identify the critical variables at work in maritime fishing; adequately describe the labor process in major forms of sea fishing; analyze the overall dynamic of production relationships and 7 By production systems, it is meant the concrete, multidimensional societal organization of production. This latter concretely situates sea fishing per se within broader social and economic conditions, and dimensions including other economic strategies, ethnic and national dminisions, migration, history, etc... In contradistinction, the mode of production is a more theoretical concept aimed at isolating the abstract variables operating in fish production. More elaboration will be done later. 11 12 the changes in the social and economic position of fishermen, and labor as a whole, as opposed to capital; 4) Build a .sociological model of artisanal fish production as a basis for further investigation in the artisanal sector as a whole and contribute to the development of a sociological theory on fish production, by integrating the findings of the study' into a coherent frame of interpretation based on the instrumentalization of the concept of mode of production. Methodologically, this study is from the outset, a comparative one. It acknowledges the merit of a comparative approach of social phenomena, when backed by appropriate theoretical tools. Because the 'logic' of comparative inquiry is, in the last instance, the logic of inquiry itself (Schwarzweller, 1958), it is expected that a comparative analysis of the similarities and variations across and within 'marine fishing communities will give 'important insights into the general process of artisanal fishery development' (vanderpool, 1983b). The significance of a sociological model of the social and production relationships in fishing appears clearly in that light, as a valuable methodological inroad into a much neglected area. Data for the study are gathered from secondary sources; in that sense, the study is based on historical documentation. Given the material conditions of a training undertaken away from west Africa and the unavoidable scope of any field research on the topic, the use of documentary research is, in one way, a matter of necessity. On the other hand, it constitutes a wise choice with regard, in particular, to the large number of scattered, unrelated, unexploited studies dealing with the social dimension of fisheries in West Africa. Knowdedge is, in a sense, accumulated social experience and it seems sound to capitalize on the work already done in the relevant field of study. 13 Several problems are foreseen in the organization and interpretation of those data. They have been collected by different researchers, at different times and places, using different methodologies and motivated by different objectives and theoretical concerns. While some are based on observational techniques and qualitative data, others rely more heavily on statistical and quantitative techniques. Almost as a rule, there has been no replication of previous studies dealing with identical or even dissimilar communities; in any case, none of the type of Firth's studies, has been reported, so far. Nevertheless, the best use possible will be made of data, which are, otherwise, rich and varied. The area covered by the study ranges from Mauritania in the North to Nigeria in the south. However, the analysis of data from Ghana and Senegal is expected to be more. systematic given the greater availability of studies made on these two countries. In some way, this also reflects the important role played by fishermen from these two areas in the fisheries of the entire region. Statement pf Thesis Outline The fish chain in west Africa, as in most of the Third world, is generally long and complex and involves a network of intricate social and economic relationships at all the stages of the process; namely, the production, processing, distribution, parts of the system. While male fishers are the exclusive operators at the hunting - production level, a decisive role is played by women, non-fishermen operators and society at large, in the land-based segments of the system. '- ..- .d , 4 , ..-. a" \‘ ...U. a . I -Hlvi - :-~I a... 4‘, - ."i'c ‘C Fry. "N w a 1'4 1' 14 .In his attempt to define the small scale fisherman, Ian Smith (1979) identifies two categories of small-scale fishermen - the artisanal and the subsistence - which together should be considered as “traditional”. Departing from KeSteven's distinction among industrial, artisanal and subsistence fishermen, he retains only one distinction, the one between industrial fishermen and traditional fishermen. To him, "the distinction between industrial and traditional fishermen is...primarily one of scale and management and income levels, rather than of market orientation”. This last point is well taken. Smith's concept of "traditional" fishermen, however, is non-legitimate and reproduces a time-long stereotypic perception of nonJWestern societies. In constant mutation, fully integrated into a market economy, constantly undergoing technological changes, artisanal fisheries around most of the Third World and west Africa are often at a distance from subsistance fishing at least as great as their distance from industrial fishing. The main differences among those categories are related to their scale and management, but also and more importantly, to the type of production relationships involved (wage labor/share system etc...), the methods used in the production as well as processing activities, the distribution of the surplus extracted (or the absence of significant surplus as in subsistence fishing) etc. Throughout the study the concepts of small-scale, artisanal, canoe, will be used interchangeably as qualifying those fishermen, fisheries and fishing activities characterized by both the relatively small, scale of their productive activities and the use of a system of catch sharing as a basic modality of labor and capital renumeration. 15 Chapter II will open the study by presenting the biological and oceanic conditions determining fishing endeavor in the region. The fisheries of west Africa are characterized by highly migratory and multinational fish stocks and are influenced by a number of bio-ecological and hydro-climatic factors of great importance. Together, these factors which have a dynamic of their own right, impact upon the social and economic features of the artisanal fisheries. They determine the highly reasonable character of marine fishing in the region and influence greatly migration patterns. They play a role in the differential organization of fishing communities, they explain the ”basic discrepancy between human population and fishery resources in the region. Understandingu the resource base and its determinants is 'therefore :esSential to portraying the structure of fishing communities in west. Africa. A’TWo "overlapping geographical regions will be considered_ in the Study and should be distinguished: on one side, the East-Central Atlantic (or CECAF) region, upon which is based the work of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and that of most oceanographers in the area; on the other hand, west Africa proper which is an historically defined region well known by historians, geographers and social scientists. . Biology, socio-economy and history are different aspects of the same problem. Because "industrial and artisanal fishing have an history, which is the history of their social and political structure as well as their techniques” (Chauveau, 1982b), and because the whole dynamic of production systems cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the past, the historical dimension of West Africa fishing societies will be fully integrated into the study. The history of 16 marine fishing cannot be understood outside of the early development of the activity in the inland states and the lagoons. Therefore, the entire West African region, from the Savanna states to the Niger Delta, will be covered up to the end of the middle ages. Chapter Iv will briefly locate the respective place of large- and small-scale fishing in the modern developments of the activity. Chapter v will be dedicated to the analysis of the systems of production and to the human dimension of West African fisheries. The general social characteristic of the sector will be described. The ethnic dimension, patterns of specialization and complementarity, the division of labor and migration patterns will be analyzed. The mode(s) of production will be the focus of the sixth and final chapter of the study. Concepts will be defined and the theoretical status of the resource investigated. The means of production (canoes and boats, motorization, fishing gear technology) will be described and their evolution (technological change and diversification) assessed. The technical process of labor corresponding to different types of fishing will be exanined as an integral part of the production relationships in fishing. The analysis of this latter will be completed by a look at the forms of appropriation and ownership characterizing different production units. The nature of the share system and the role of market forces in the production sphere will finally be investigated against a background of profound technological changes affecting social relations in fish production. The conclusion will sumnarize the findings of the study and illustrate these latter by a model that will, visually, present the interactions among the variables identified. Potential areas of further ivestigation will be presented. I. THE RESOURCES OF THE OCEAN: Life Processes in the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) . 'L’ idee de vie suppose constanrnent 1a correlation necessaire de deux elements indispensables: un organisme approprie et un milieu convenable. C'est de l ' action reciproque de ces elements que resultant inevitablement tous 1es phenomenes vitaux.” Auguste Comte. Ecology is crucial to our understanding of marine societies. By living off the resources of the ocean, man - probably the most important predator - becomes vitally dependent on the general eco—system of the ocean. This ecological system inlcudes both ocean organisms and the non-living envirorment, each influencing the properties of the other and both necessary for the maintenance of life in the sea. A .At large, the size and distribution of the fishery resources of the Eastern-Central Atlantic are largely a function of oceanographic and physical characteristics. Of prime importance are the size of the continental shelf and the extent 'of upwelling in the region. Also important from a biological standpoint are major river streams, estuaries, and lagoons as well as various atmospheric and oceanic conditions which determine the very extent, location and seasonality of the upwellings themselves. The sum-total of these factors form a basis for understanding not only the characteristics of fishery resources, but also various patterns of social organization among artisanal fishermen such as the long—distance search for fishing grounds, certain fishing techniques, etc... 17 1. THE CCNTINENTAL SHELF As a whole, the Atlantic Ocean is relatively shallow and has an abundance of continental shelf. The West African self however, is in general rule narrow (less than 291-30 miles) except for some remarkable exceptions.8 Because open ocean food webs are typically long and complex, and since food to support an abundant fish stock is scarce in open ocean, most major fisheries are located on continental shelves. Nutrient concentration, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus, is much higher on continental shelves and slopes and upwelling areas (Gross, 1981). This is particularly true of West Africa where resources are largely concentrated over the continental shelf. In areas where the continental shelf is wide (which happen to be also upwelling areas), exploitation accessibility is facilitated while coastal pelagic and denersal resources are abundant. Demersal species are particularly abundant in muddy, sedimented parts of the shelf's bottom (drums, croakers...) , but valuable species such as sea breans and the senegalese "thiof" (grouper) are found on hard or sandy parts of the shelf (Domain, 1979). . Also important to the biological features of the region, are the important river systems (Congo, Niger, Senegal, etc...) which carry diverse nutrients into the sea and create a variety of biological processes at the point of contact between the two water masses. In the For exanple, the area between Dakar, Senegal (16 N) to Freetom, Sierra Ieone (8 N) whre the shelf is up to 108 miles wide or over (around the Bissagos islands) and the are off Rio de Oro (24 N) and off Northern Mauritania (20 N). Areas of shallower waters exist also around the oceanic island: Cape Verde, Sao Tune... (Gulland, 1971). 18 spasms — 2:: are czc>s soaps: u é:o Eczema: comma cm >mnpo: ‘ 1 {\1 d w_m:nn N " noosesorpnsH r.senon_s:m on omn>= mcrcpz sarazdocm :3.qu . I ..n 11A I 4 ~04 o . ..\ ..l I. . . f ' oi r a l w . . m L..- . r # ~Oo p L 0‘ b W‘ 1.1.? K h . a .n‘ v1 moenno « men—so: on an.._om_ an... 8815- an .11....13. .8 821-. a: gait-.93 8.500 Ill. :33: to. 2......- 91>“ 3 a It! . .0. o. .5" accenm u encoeoo oz: Cannes. .oue 20 heavily sedimented river mouths, lagoons, deltas and other protected estuarine systems, a blooming of primary and secondary production takes place. They constitute an ideal location for shrimp fisheries in particular and harbor the major fish nurseries of the CECAF region.9 2. THE COASTAL UPWELLING Aromd the world, the most productive fisheries are located in continental shelves waters, particularly upwelling areas. At a global scale, upwelling areas account for more than half of the world fish production (Gross, 1981) . Compared to these high production areas, coastal areas where upwelling is .not comnon have only intermediate productivity. In the CECAF region, upwellings have been found to be the single most important factor determining the (high biological productivity of the richest coastal areas off the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania in the North and off the coasts of Congo and Angola in the South. These two synlnetric areas boarder a much poorer gulf of Guinea where less rich and less regular upwellings do take pace between Ivory Coast and Benin (Gulland, 1971; Troadec s. Garcia, 1979; Sutinen et al., 1981; cf also, Figure #4). TWO key elements controlling biological productivity and upwelling phenomena in the region are, n one hand, the rate of nutrient renewal In the Northern zone of CECAF alone, important spawning grounds are reported between Cape Vert (14 N) and Cape Timiris (19 N) and between the Bissagos island and Cape Vert. The species concerned include the flat sardinella, the round sardinela, the ethmalosa, the Spanish mackerel as well as several demersal species (Boelly & Freon; Domain, 1979). ' ~ V,yn- w'*“ p. I l'.‘ poi“ 4 vi": O .I..‘ In, I no. I p I. (I , I I I- ll‘ I I. n. ‘ 21 linked to the quantity of light absorbed by plants and, on the other hand, the relationship between . atmospheric and hydrospheric circulation. In the oceans as on land, the only life able to live directly off mineral matters are plants. With the support of solar light, they use their chlorophyle to synthesize the organic matter present in the ocean by photosynthesis. These microscopic plants, phytoplankton, live at the surface of the ocean in zones reached by solar radiation and constitute the primary, necessary element of the ocean food chain. They' provide food to the zoo-plankton, the mostly herbivorous animal form of plankton which, after a minimal time span, makes an ideal prey for carnivorous animals. Productivity of the richest ocean areas compares favorably with intensely cultivated agricultural land; gross productivity in those areas can be as high as 28 grams of carbon per square meter per day (Gross, 1982). There is however, a peculiarity in the production of organic matter in the ocean. Land plants can grow' for years before soils are depleted of nutrients whereas phytoplankton can only sustain maximun production for a few days before nutrients in the water are depleted. This is particularly true of tropical seas in which, under the effect of intense solar radiation, photosynthetic activity is always as its maximun. One important hydrological "trait" of the Eastern Central Atlantic is precisely its warm (24-27°C) superficial Figure 3 : 22 Coastal Temperatures and Upwelling Areas in February 1‘ «'1 r I ] fl 1 I 3%“ loathing”): . " :3: .‘rrurruwnu count: . f: uouucuorr 2 u nvuu 3"." f {B < 34°: ‘- ' ,. I 14.1”: q ,.. I I > :10: u \" 9° II q Luann“! . g .. 0‘ can: r or , p’omrt 1' smut: 3? wont ‘ I O Pens-oh- ‘ LUAIM r ‘ , o p I In .0608 “0”‘I‘ q.‘. o I. I 955251 " "" l J L l ‘ .-.. Source : Troadec and Garcia, 1979 figure 4 : Coastal Temperatures and Upwelling Areas in September to" 0‘ ##L-T 5.1? a 1 j I 1 I . .. wombmm "inhuman cont In a nu about”?! U! SEPW T. a c :40: F I u- 87': . ..- ‘ ‘." Out-u .' ’ .. , cont" 3' o "‘ . ‘K r 113 1‘: \ v5.9. 6, {‘31. a. A can _.:EE*I. 90 Au ‘ ’ '5. 41.; flaw ---- . ~ «- ,'~ ., I. ‘ T . '0. E o '3 Icahn... d I - 3‘ 0.! ‘31:... LIII‘V'LL d 0’ ' 60L 7‘ ' A ‘ lam-53.3: or ‘ ‘fiv Joan?! "$3221 I0 I! u '- wm I: I ‘25; ‘ "."m'". " LUAIDA . iiraiz. ' if moan-tug u. . 1.». am» 5:???- . ° E19: , I L AL I A 3“ ' Source : Troadec and Garcia, 1979 at‘ O 1 \u‘ WM ~‘hn 0.-.“. '1'. ‘ Cue: . ..‘. I ~-.-. I 5" . ‘9‘. w p" ‘ \." :23 layer Of water” which favors a faster rate of vegete growth than in colder regions and which, if not renewed, becomes rapidly a biological desert. Underneath, below the thermocline, unreached by solar radiation, important mineral resources remain untouched and unexploited by the animals inhabiting these depths. During upwellings, these deeper, nutrient-rich, cold waters are brought to surface. Phosphate and nitrate ions depleted in sunlit surface waters by phytopankton growth, move vertically and resupply food for active plant growth. These in turn feed small animals and eventually fishes. 3. CLIMATOLCXSICAL CGJDITIQJS AND MIR IMPACT ON RESQIRCES AND POPULATICN DISTRIBUTION Upwellings have been associated with climatological patterns, in particular wind action. In general, world weather is basically function of the tanperature differences in the atmosphere which reflect varying anounts of solar heat reaching different parts of the world. These temperature differences and other factors as well set into motion various air masses which at the point of contact with the hydrosphere, cause water particles to move, giving birth to a surface current. In West Africa, the most important upwellings are associated with two major current systems; the cool Canary and Benguela current systems off Northwest and Southwest Africa, respectively (Troadec & Garcia, 1979; Gulland, 1971) . 10 Its thickness goes up to 30-40 meters along most of the West African coast, except for the Senegal-Liberia area where it is just 12-14 meters think. It is separated from colder waters by a theoretical transitional zone, the thermocline. ...c nl- ' H’- \A -1 3‘. 24 Patterns of upwelling in West Africa are seasonal causing various fish migratory movements and associated migration patterns among fishermen thenselves. As a fact, the whole hydroclimatology of the region is determined by the seasonal migration and pulsation of two air masses: 1) The dry and dusty 'Hamattan" or Easterly winds,“- which blow seaward during the northern winter (or dry season), pushing offshore the superficial layers coming from the Canary current and producing an upwelling area all along the northern coast down to Cape Roxo. 2) The warm and humid Monsoon or Westerly winds, originating over the Atlantic ocean and blowing onshore during the sunmer of the Northern hemisphere (or rainy season). The two air masses meet at the Intertropical Convergence Front (ITC) - or ITD, Discontinuity zone - (Ojo, 1977; Franke and Chasin, 1980). At least indirectly, the movements of the ITC are related to the pulsation along the coast of maritime fronts and the appearance of uwellings sweeping these regions or alternance zones. In a CECAF region characterized in the North by an alternance zone extending from Cape Blanc (Mauritania) to Cape Verga (Guinea) and a southern homologous covering the area between Cape Lopez (Gabon) and Cape Frio (Angola), we witness the fundamental bipolarization of the fishery resources in the sub-tropical zones (20—1! N and a—17 S) leaving in between a much poorer Gulf of Guinea. The situation is accurately described by Troadec & Garcia (1979): ”The sane climatic factors (loCalization of the Monsoon in tropical zones with heavy rainfalls) are at the origin of the diametrically opposed distribution of the resources vis a vis human populations and thus markets. The more dense human populations live along the Gulf of Guinea while the richest depths in fishery resources are 11 Easterlies' are associated to the Tropical Continental (GT) air mass originating over the Sahara desert and Westerlies, to the Tropical Maritime (Mr) air mass, originating over the Atlantic Ocean (Ojo, 1977). 25 mwmcnm o u mommccup zwnnan—o: cm HenN wwmzfim m ” mcomo=m~ zwmnunwo: ca HenN . y: umscmnw T. «first v' '1 '1! ‘0‘ Illwrlll «H.014 .. tisliahrllaxtl «LLIIJAIoJ 0‘ o... ~W . . .7“... l. . ..o 4 AV Q .. A. V A. a O z u .. . .3 manage. 3.9.2.0: ca 2n~ I be? i... .4 manage. 353:0... o. .qHN I 52:32 T a. TV 9 w . 1'3 2. W. 0. u. w. #1 TT‘GIIL mocnnm “ Zannm: and 3.2mmnm. ~ouu mocficm ” Iona»: m:a.¢.zmmnm.1_ouu £1 .In! 26 ..omd along the desertic coasts of the African continent (Mauritania, South Angola/Nambia) . This gap between high production sectors and those with high consumption has conditioned the evolution of the whole exploitation and utilization scheme of the resources of the region." (personal translation 'from French). 4. THE FISHERY RESOURCES "The Eastern Central Atlantic fishery is one of the world's most productive, ranking sixth out of 17 major fishing areas in 1978 and comparable to the Northwestern Atlantic in terms of weight landed." (Sutinen, et al., 1981) In 1971, the annual biological potential of the region was estimated at 3.5-5.0 million tons. More recently, in 1980, Everett advanced a possible maximun catch of about 4.2 million tons. Recent reports of catches have 'been in the range of 3-3.8 million tons .(Sutinen et a1.,'l981). These reported chatches are not far from the maximun sustainable yield. This situation however, may vary widely according to major fishery stocks - each having its om country - specific constraints and laws of development.12 Five stocks can be distinguished according to major species: 1) The coastal pelagic species are by far the most important stock of the region in terms of weight landed, making up 60% of the total reported catches in the mid to late 1970's (Sutinen, et al., 1981). In value terms, however, they are the least valuable accounting for only 7% of the region total earnings. Migratory species, for the most part, they include the sardine, the round and flat sardinella, the mackerel, the spanish mackerel, the horse mackerel and the ethmalosa (bonga) . 2) Demersal fish. species which make up a total potential catch of 12 In Senegal, for instance, catches in 1981 were at 281,000 t., i.e. 56% of a maximuu yield of 500,000 t (Fontana et Weber, 1982)., 27 our 400,000 tons in the Mauritania to Guinea area and of 150,000 tons from Sierra Leone to Zaire, account for only one fourth or less of coastal catches (Sutinen et al., 1981). The most important species include, hakes, sea breams, croakers, mixed and the bigeye grunter of the Senegambian area. They have a higher commerical value than small pelagics and play a greater role in the local economies. Recently however, the explosion of a low-value species, the baliste or trigger-fish, of which very little is known (Domain, 1979) have apparently causes a dramatic perturbation of the marine eco-systems based on the same bathymetric distribution.13 3) In value terms, the cephalopod fisheries, concentrated in the CECAF Northern zone, represent the leading fisheries in region and one of the most important in the world. They concern 3 species: octopus (ea-7a: of the catch), cuttlefish (20—253) and squid (l0-20%) (Sutinen et al., 1981). With a commerical value of $199 million for 200,000 tons landed, they represented in 1975, as much as the total value of demersal and coastal pelagic fish species (Bakayohko, 1981). In 1977, cephalopods were accounting for up to 23% of the total value of the CECAF region, but only 4% of the total catches (Sutinen et al., 1981). 4) According to Shtinen et al., (1981), the next most valuable fisheries are the tuna fisheries, with skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna being the principal ocean pelagic species caught in the CECAF region. _They'make up 17% of the value share in the region for a catch of 276,000 tons of the 1977 total. 13 The explosion of the baliste might have caused the drop of the bigeye grunter, shad (Sutinen, et al., 1981) and Round Sardinella as well as inversely. The development of certain shrimp fisheries (Domain, 1979). 28 5) With an estimated 37,000 tons landed, the crustacean fisheries make up only 1% of the total CECAF Production. In value, however, they represented $184.5 million (16% of the value share) in 1977. Important stocks of pink shrimps are found near river mouths and lagoon entrances of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Congo, etc... Prawns and other river estuarial and deep water shrimps are fbund in the area. v; I" Iu‘ III. WEST AFRICANS AND THEIR AQIATIC ENVIRCN‘QENT IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE “Man hoisted sail before he saddled a horse. He poled and paddled along rivers and navigated the open seas before he traveled on wheels along road. Watercraft was the first of all vehicles." (Thor Heyerdahl, Early man and the ocean, 1980) Historical studies have so far paid little attention to the relationship between the peoples of West Africa and their aquatic envirorment. The bias toward land-based civilizations has generally been the rule as in other areas of the social sciences. To make things worse, historic West Africans have not left14 written docunents made by themselves, for themselves and giving their om interpretation of their history. All information on prehistoric and historic West Africa, is to be taken from archeological evidence, accounts from Arab writers who first traded with medieval West Africa, oral traditions, descriptions by early Portuguese, Dutch and other European explorers, and reports of diverse colonial administrators. At a time when the history of the West African sub-continent .is still being unfolded, most contemporary historical studies are based on a combination of these sources and their interpretation. Few studies15 have so far focused on organizing the historical data related to fishing coumunities and fishers in a single, explanatory framework with present-day relevance . E 14 Remarkable exceptions are Mohmoud Kati (1468-1554) and his grand- son who left us with the “Tarikh El Fettach' - Chronicle of the Researcher - (1519-1665) and Fe. Sa'di who wrote the Tarikh Es Sudan' between 1627 and 1655. ' 15 Among those: Smith, 1970: Chauveau, 1981, 1982, 1983; Hendrix, 1983, Tymowski, 1970, 1967; Roberts, 1981. 29 r-ny- - c‘..." o 7 "a I".- B ”Q; -.~.. ‘90 n "0--.. .u .; . u - ..‘ o ‘... 3|» .3 ~... (4' 0" 4. fl 30 A thorough understanding of the present is impossible without an equally thorough understanding of the past - the place of coastal and riverine socieities in the global economy and politics of West Africa as well as the subsequent modification of this place with successive regional transformations, the movements from river to marine fishing, technological transformations and the whole dmamic of the production systems cannot be appreciated without reference to the past. (I: the basis of available historical data, a rough periodization of fishing and related activities will be sketched as a part of the global political and economic history of West Africa. Particular emphasis will be given to the medieval and precolonial history of fishers societies for the period extending approximately from the 5th to the 19th century 8.C. 1. Early Fishing _i_n Prehistoric Africa The history of fishing is tightly bound to the history of mankind for, from the very beginning, fishing has been one of the primary food-getting techniques, much like hunting. Hopkins (1973) recalls that ”Fishing commities between 7000 and 2000 8.C. may have been major laboratories where social patterns for sedentary living could be tested and elaborated.” (in Hendrix, 1983). Fishing activities in Africa can be traced back as early as the 7th millenium 8.C. and perhaps earlier. Fossils associated with a lakeside camp at Ishango on Lake Mobutu, date probably from the 7th millenium (Clark, 1970) and it is known that as early as 7000 8.C., Black Africans had organized themselves in fishing-hunting commities “A .va; c... a-» .v upon, U not». u..n‘ I I ~-.- . I: (v '~.. ,u'.‘ . o;‘ 3311 h ".I- " cl .r ‘4'“. "V 31 Twat. Khartoum in Nubia which were also making pottery (Van Sertima, 1976). Around 6000 8.C. and earlier, fish is identified as a major source of protein intake, along with other animal and vegetable food present in lakes and rivers. Around the former lakes in central and southern Sahara and in the Nile Valley, there is ample evidence for waterside commities of fishers who used harpoons and fish-hooks of bone and in addition hunted and ate hippopotamus and crocodiles (Clark, 1970). Similar commities are known to have existed South of the Sahara at Ishango and around the shores of Lake Ridolph and Lake Nukuru. The Sahara, in particular, which is believed to have been the experimental center of the neolithic revolution and the locus of invention of African agriculture during the climatic optimun of the 8th-3rd millenia (Surat-canal, 1966) , provided a highly favorable environment for fishers. Several large freshwater lakes existed at the time when further south, Lake Chad covered eight times its present surface. This pattern continued until about the middle of the third millenium when the drying-out process of the areas peaked, forcing the populations of this once fertile environment in migratory waves either southward or North-East toward the rich Nile floodplains. Fishing in predynastic Egypt is known to have undergone enormous developuent around 2000 8.C. Thanks to the paintings and archeological remains in Egyptian tombs, it is possible today to reconstruct major aSPects of Egyptian fisheries. Harpoons, hand-lines, long lines, traps and nets were the main gear, used according to the species hunted. Harpoons (first made of bone and later of metal) were either trident-shaped or barbed as those used a couple of decenies ago in whale fishing. ' 32 Fish hooks similar in shape to contemporary ones and to neolithic bone hooks from Sudan and West Africa were made of copper until the 12th dynasty and later of bronze (Anson, 1975). Line fishing with multiple or single hooks was done from shore or in boat. Nets of various and mesh size have been found mostly in tombs and according to Hendrix (1983), they include dip-nets, seine-nets and beam trawls. The organic relationship between Ancient Egypt and Black Africa has been widely denons'trated by scholars such as Ch. A. DIOP (1954) and C. Williams (1974) who believe along with others that this relationship is a clue for understanding the basic cultural unity of African societies at large. Among the boats used by Africans during prehistoric times, reed boats stand as an outstanding accomplisl'unent. Present in all sizes in predynastic Egypt, they are, according to Heyerdahl (1980), the first in the history of mankind to have developed the sea-going characteristics which became a model for the wooden ship.16 Reed boats were also conmon among aiduna papyrus boat—builders from Lake Chad, while rock-paintings discovered in the 1960Js in the Sahara Desert showed hippopotamus being hunted from reed boats similar to those in use in predynastic Egypt. Carbon dating showed that this Saharan art dates from a period between the sixth and 2nd millenium 8.C. Little is known about the wooden canoe in prehistoric times; the lack of archeological evidence in itself does not tell much in either way given the fact that the average life-time of a canoe is generally very short k 16 The fact that the Reed boat, 'gaalu Kheref," preceded the wooden canoe on the Senegal River (Chauveau, 1981) seems to back this point of view. .o I .3 K W Mn N... o. h: i 3 fl 33 (2-4 years) and the areas where it is the most abundant (such as West and Central Africa) do not preserve archeological remains such as wood. 2. The Atlantic Ocean Historically, the Atlantic Ocean - the most formidable watermass of West Africa - is believed to have been no more than 'a dead end, a cul de sac where cultural waves from the East, the epicenter of Sudanese civilization come to expire on the beaches of an ocean that leads now here" (Barry, 1981). Neither the Sahara Desert, nor the Cameroon highlands and mountains at the edges of respectively North and Central Africa, ever prevented flourishing trade, migrations and even warfare to be established between West Africa and other parts of the world. In contrast, the Atlantic Ocean appears to have stood until the advent of the Atlantic trade as the most powerful barrier to interregional and intercontinental communication and trade while long-distance sailing and fishing are believed not to have been particularly developed by coastal fishermen. According to Manny, the coastal boats of the area were “along the most primitive of the globe“ and ”absolutely improper to high sea sailing” (1961). This belief, however, is highly arguable in view of the recent work of Van Sertima (1976). On the basis of navigational facts, scores of cultural analogies found nowhere, except Africa and America, carbon-l4 dated archeological evidence, American Indians oral tradition, the presence of African cloth, plants and animals in America, Van Sertima demonstrated that Africans had done the Atlantic 34 voyage to America long before Colunbus. The African presence in America probably. dates back to the 15th Egyptian dynasty - 800-600 8.C. In West Africa, during the Middle Ages, the Mali emperor, Abubakri II, 'the mariner', direct predecessor of Kanakan Musa, undertook two collossal expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean. According to A1 Onariu, these expeditions involved.200 master boats and 200 supply boats for the first one and 200 vessels during the second and final One. To build such a fleet, Abubakri II, called on the best boat-makers of the empire from the Upper Niger to the Senegal and Gambia Rivers. The expeditions embarked in 1310 and 1311, respectively, from the only Atlantic window of the Mali empire, the Senegambian littoral. They soon were to enter "a violent current, like a river in the middle of the sea'18. These current - the Canary current - leaves the African continent along the Senegambian coasts and one of its branches flows into the North Equatorial currentwhich has its terminal points along the America coast where it strikes a broad band ranging from the Guinanas through the Antilles. "Around this same time, evidence of contacts between West Africans and Mexicans appears in strata in America in an overwhelming combination of artifacts and cultural 17 In "Masalik 31 Absar fimanilik el Ansar" by Al-Omari (1336-1338)- quoted by Cissokho, 1966; Mauny, 1961; Van Sertima, 1976. 18 From the testimony of one member of the. first expedition whose boat sailed back instead of entering the current—in A1 Qnari. 35 o a. e 3" (Van Sertima, 1976) Abubakri II made 11:19, but unlike Colunbus and early European maritime explorers, he was not able to make the trip back. His people ignored his accomplishment and are just starting to uncover his legacy more than 650 years later. The Atlantic Ocean was to remain an enigma for West Africans until the European invasions. Maritime fishing was a regular activity of coastal commities through the Middle Ages and was practiced before the 15th century up to 2-3 miles from the coast. In the main, it was integrated along with other coastal activities in the continental economy of the region. The sane is true of riverine, lagoon and delta communities of fishers which, as a whole, played a fundamental role in the development of states and the political economy of the Middle Ages. 3. Fishers _i_n_ the Political Economy 9_f_ West African States During the Middle ALes To understand the situation of conmunities of fishers through the Middle Ages, it is necessary to keep in mind their-distribution along major life zones of West Africa and their subsequent position in relation to the dense and intricate political and economic developments characteristic of that era. The concept of life- zones developed by human geographers, refers here to distinct ecological region within 19 Additional proof of the feasibility of such a voyage has been given by more than 120 modern expeditions on boats as rudimentary as ”two rafts, two dugout canoes, two dories propelled only by oars, several dories fitted only with sails..." (in Van Sertima, 1976). 36 which people obtain their livelihoods in similar ways and have developed similar similar social and political forms (ref.: Stride & Ifeka, 1971). A life time would not suffice to give a full account of those developments let alone the exact place of very diverse commities of fishers in those processes. It is possible however to distinguish 3 major human areas according to life zones and integration into major political and economic processes: - The Sudanic Savanna grasslands, drained by a wide network of rivers (Senegal, Niger, Ganbia, volta. . .) around which the largest and most sophisticated medieval state developed . - The Upper Guinea coast, including part of the “Senegambian littoral, characterized by dense mangrove swamps and which developed mainly as a dependency of the Savanna states. ‘ - The Guinea coast stretching, from Ivory Coast to Nigeria, through lagoons and creeks up to the innumerable waterways and mangrove swamps of the Niger Delta. Strong centralized states came to life later in the region which underwent political and economic developnents independent from the older savanna states. 3.1. The Savanna states and the Riverine conflexes The role played by riverine commities of fishers in the development of the Savanna states of the western Sudan was great, though rarely mentioned by historians. The Senegal River and above all the Niger River at its upstreans, its bend and its confluence with the Benue River provided a fundanental axis around which, empire-building was made possible. . By 500 A.D., Tekur in the Senegal River Valley and Ghana, had started to emerge as the first Sudanic empires. Ghana, by far the greatest of the two, controlled the large supplies of gold in the Upper 37 Figure 7 : Major African States Through Nineteenth Century L.— w or o- r :9- ur or I 17' H1 ' 8 ‘ ‘ ‘ or u- P. ‘ . -'. ‘. J . '7. g ‘ 7‘ IR ...:~.. I ' . “NI“.."N" .' ‘¥-::'7-."“‘.‘.. fifl'E- - -soncw . fl .3 mama ovo "chum "7 _ .- EEK". ~ IlTARA-IUNYO‘O .fi on. A. TYO E 3 ho- - .' n . ' ovmaunou STATES ...- Major African States through the ' Nineteenth Century w- ' -w 1 Thnmhwmnwmwahwm-n;k:;d “out, at. qmmwm.'hn0.muflid~bwww. ' 9 -" ...- _." I - . “In. ga-A ' L— l I" 4.1-— i— n. o- o- o' ao- u- «r . 0'6"- oo- Source : Lamphear, 1977 38 Location of Selected Ethnic Groups Figure 8 :2 ‘9. W ‘0’ w: 4w 80' T—fii aaaaaua m an mamfiaw Emmi.” ............ :Haaaussnaaaaaauaa «annuauuuuu um um . a immerses”... as Location. of Selected Ethnic Groups b p .- GQ' Martin and O'Meara, 1977 “A Source or- ' o n w 0'- 39 Senegal and Niger valleys as well as the trans-saharan trade routes. This contact was maintained until the beginning of the 12th century after which Chana was succeeded by Mali and then Songhai, each larger and more powerful than its predecessor. Contemporary of Mali and Songhai, or emerging from their respective breakdown at the end of the 14th and 16th centuries, a host of smaller states were also created. Abst notable anong those are the Mossi States of the Upper Volta Valley which safeguarded their independence throughout the entire Middle Ages, the Haussa city-states of the Niger-Benue confluence (13th-l6th centuries and later), the Wolcf, Tukulor and Serer states of the Seneganbia (l4th-l9th AD.) and the Segu Banbara state of the middle Niger Valley (l7th-l9th no.) . ' 'The comnon characteristic of all these states, whatever their scale, is their emergence from tribute-paying and trading social formations20 of which they were the concentrated political expression. The whole scheme of state formation, conflicts and war in this part of the world and the place of fishers. groups within this scheme, would not be grasped without an understanding of what was at stake: the control of the trans-saharan routes and of local populations, their resources and the tribute extracted from them. 01 all aspects, the role of fisher groups organized mainly along ethnic and occupation lines, was 2” By 'Tribute-paying and trading social formations' (Amin, 1976), it is meantthe particular combination of a tributary mode of surplus appropriation with the transport (and not the generation) of part of the surplus from one society to another through long- distance trade. The tribute, i.e., 'the unity rent-tax, and a lever of formidable power' (Fossaert, 1977), is at the core of the mode of production in formations where the surplus produced by society is not appropriated by individual landlords, but by the state. 40 to prove essential. These groups, as in Songhai, were instrumental in the very founding of the state. They directly participated in the reproduction of tributary relations by paying dues and taxes to the state and they were important in the development of imperial comnmicaticn, in transport, in the carrying out of trade and in military strategies. 3.1.1. Fishermen, Their Social/Organization and the State Three groups of fishers - Bozo, Sorko and Somono - dominate the history of fishing in the western Sudan. Of course, other fisher groups played an important role in the political economy of some of the Sudanese states. In the Phussa state of Nupe, famous for the skill of its boats-builders, it 'is recorded that the Kyedye, centered near the Niger-Kaduna confluence, had established a number of subordinate trading and fishing villages along the river valley and were one of the two main groups of Nupe. The well—watered Haussa state of Kebi had also long been settled by populous groups of skilled fishermen (Strike & Ifeka, 1971). The role of the T'yubalo endoganous caste in the Futanke (Tukulor) almanya of the Seneganbia is also known. Situated at the lower stratum of the Toroodo superior caste, they were ”masters of the water“ and were believed to have a supreme mastery of the aquatic elements. As all the other social groups, they had their chiefs - 'teignes', 'farba', 'diatalbe' - who were masters of defined fishing zones in the sane way that the 'Jom leydi' was master of the land. They perceived fishing rights - 'kamngal' - on fresh aswell as dried ‘c- ' I o... ’N f a; q \ l 'I w l i i 1 | a \ I 1.. 41 fish and were major mediators in the relations between Tyubalbe21 fishermen and the state (Diagne, 1967; Wane, 1959) . In the sane way that Mali and Songhai dominated the history of medieval Sudan, the story of Bozo, Sorko and Somono fishing commities, whose fate cannot be dissociated from these two entities, best illustrate the general traits characterizing Sudanic fishermen and their relation to the state. The Bozo are believed to have been the most ancient inhabitants of the interior delta on the western side of the Niger bend (3f EB); Fishing, correlatively, was probably the most ancient occupation in this part - the most fertile - ‘of the Niger. Between the 9th and 12th century, the area underwent a two pronged in-migration of Soninke (from the East) and Bambara (from the South-East) agriculturalists.22' The subsequent agricultural colonization of the river banks did not destroy the fishing industry; rather the two activities became complementary. The Bozo, specialized fishermen, started to exchange their excess production against agricultural products (Tymowski, 1970). Soon was to emerge the Mandinka entity within which Bozo fishermen were organized as an endoganous caste. Little is known about the Somono fishermen before the 18th century. According to R)b€l’t3 (1981), "The term Somono means fisherman or more exactly boatman. As such it is an expression of an occupation 21 Tyubalbe is the plural word for Tyubalo in Pulaar (or Phlani) language. 27‘ Banbara agriculturalist may have been in the area long before the 9th century according to oral sources quoted by Cissokho (1966). The Soninke, ancient rulers of Ghana may have moved in the area after the destruction of their emire in the 11th century by the Almoravides. Id Fl '04 42 whereas Bozo refers to an ethnic group.“ This interpretation is also that of Tymowski (1970) who thinks that the Somcnc emerged relatively , late in the history of Mali, following the incapacityof the Bozo to supply adequately the growing demand of fishery products from the increasing agricultural population. Recruiting from all ethnic groups - Banbara, Sononke, Songhai, Bobo, Mossi, Pheuls - a new social group specialized in fishing emerged, slowly transforming itself in a closed caste today. Though present in Mali, it is only later in the 18th- century Banbara State of Segu, that the Somcnc will develop their most sophisticated relation to the state. At about the same time that the mandinka entity was being formed, another story was unfolding itself in the eastern side of the Niger bend. Between the 5th and 11th century AD., the Sorko, a skilled group of nomadic fishermen followed a long north-West migration along the Niger through which they formed several colonies such as Gao and Kcukia which were to become capitals of the Songhai empire. Benefitting from their large number and their great nobility, they established their rule over the De (or Do), who were fishing the area before, and also over the Koromba, Gurmanche and Gabibi agriculturalists. The Sorko (advanced as far as Lake Debo, in the western side of the bend, where they clashed with the Bozo. They gradually assimilated those groups until the emergence of a new entity - the Songhai people - of which they were the nucleus and the dynanic elenent (Cissokho, 1966, 1975; ‘ Stride ' Ifeka, 1971; Tymowski, 1970) later, with changes in the area's demography, the development of the economic basis of agriculture, the struggle waged by peasant groups and the incoming of warrior bands from the Northeast, important economic and political transformations took. .IV' I w:- h! A0: I.“ ' fl... ~' I. ‘.~" '\ §." -r' 43 .iace. As a consequence, the Sorko lost their hegemony and were transformed between the 13th and 14th century into a servile group of the Songhai empire in the sane way that the Bozo and Somcnc in the west were subdued (Tymowski, 1970; Stride s. Ifeka, 1971). As in the Seneganbia, fishermen of the Niger Valley were considered as ”masters of the water" gifted with supernatural powers related to aquatic elements. They were to execute sacrifices to the genii of the river and to domesticate crocodiles and dangerous animals. They were organized on strictly endogamous basis and were part of the caste system characteristic of the western aidan, while ethnic lines overlapped these occupational classifications. Integrated into the tributary economy, fishermen had to pay the taxes/dues and customs necessary to sustain the warrior aristocracies and the state machinery. After their status regression, the Sorko was supplying the state with fish, canoes and crew members. Tymowski (197a) mentions that fish dues were fixed at 1-10 packs of dried fish per year, depending upon the ability of each Sorko-fisherman. The Bozo also were providing a tax in fish and transport services to local governors of Mali (Roberts, 1981). They were also supplying grass for horses and, later mder the Askias of Songhai, canoes and even young children to serve as grooms (Tymowski, 1970). These fisher/state relationships were probably not unilateral. Roberts (1981) notes that a "social contract” existed between the state of Segu and the Somcnc fishermen. Says he: 'the Somcnc were actually inserted in the actual process of reproducing the form and economic expression of the state, the state in turn recognized the Scmcno's important and fostered them through special recruitment and priviledge" Somcnc fishermen were supplied with slaves by the state, given exclusive rights to navigate and fish the river, and had the special a ”I... luv-v w a ...A“ begin. In I.. of ‘ca QC 0"“ A" \- ‘m' w~ :I “. \" ". 3r a“ i \\ A: "1 I ‘ N. 44 protection of the king. In return, they paid a special tax in cowries and fish, provided ferry service and canoe service for the movement of information,_material and troops; they also repaired and built the walls of the king's palace and other fortifications in the state. "Thus, the state sponSored the expansion of a group of fishermen who in turn provided goods and services crucial to the continued ability of the state to make war...The state inserted itself in the Somcnc mode of production...(l) through renewal of the social relations of production and (2) through the extraction of a portion of the social product" (Roberts, 1981). It is likely that, if not in the form at least in the content, this tight interplay between the state and fish production was also present in Mali and Songhai. A wide variety of fish production techniques were used in the Middle Ages. During the periods of swelling and fall on the river, at the time of lateral migrations of the fish, fishermen, particularly Bozo, used braided dykes and a system of trapping. In small ponds, they would even fish bare-handed. Nets, wicker-traps, cast-nets and hand-lines were used for bottom species. Harpocns were used for big fish and particularly'for hippopotamus-hunting by the Sorko. Some of these techniques could be used by individual fishermen; however, most of them required collective fishing. Collective fishing had a great influence on the social relations of production and contributed certainly in solidifying the role of the extended fanily in the production process. Among the Bozo, the lineage was placed under the leadership of the fanily head. All the fish captured - individually or collectively - were to be given to him. After allocation of a share of the catch to the subsistence needs of the commity (food was prepared in conlncn) , the surplus was either sold, exchanged, used to pay taxes 45 or offered as customary presents (Tymowski, 1970). Only a part of the catches ~was consumed as fresh fish. Most of the fish geared for trade or taxes was transformed. Fish and fishery products were already precious items of trade in this historical period. Idrisi in the 12th century mentions that fish was dried and salted (Manny, 1961).23 According to Cissokho (1975), Sorko and Bozo‘ fishermen were using methods of salting, smoking and sun-drying and were supplying the whole Niger up to the Saharan oasis, as well as most of the western Sudan down to the forest region. 3.1.2. The Canoe, Trade and warfare The prototypical vessel in the western Sudan was the dug-out canoe made all in one piece from a single tree trunk. Pirogues made of two joint hollowed-out trunks were also built, as well as plank—made vessels, both tied together with ropes. Sails were not used on the Upper Niger and the basic means of propulsion were paddling, punting and sometimes hauling, by pulling boats along the river with the help of a rope tied up to a tree (Tymowski, 1970; Smith, 1970). The larger boats - called Kanta in Songhai - were mainly used for the transport of trading goods. They could carry up to 30 tons of load, that is the load capacity of 1000 men, or 200 camels, 300 cattle or a flotilla of 20 regular canoes (Manny, 1951). Tymowski (1967) suggests a load capacity of 50 to 80 tons. 23 Tymowski argument that salt was to scarce to be used for extensive salting is interesting, but does not suffice to discard Idrisi's testimony (in Tymowski, 1970). 46 The size of such boats - as much as the variety of vessels - indicates the importance of the river in the trade networks of the area. Salt and cereals such as millet and rice, fish, kola nuts, honey, butter and even cattle and war slaves were carried in those huge boats. In addition to carrying goods, the canoe was a very convenient means of ferrying and transport for local populations; in comparison to other means of transport - horse, camel, men, cattel - it was undoubtedly cheap and efficient. The importance of canoe transport is further highlightened by the heavy presence of the state in its organization. In Songhai, the State had organized an extensive network of ”ports" in the major cities as well as in smaller ones. Each port was headed by a chief - the Goima-koi in Gao, the Kabara-farma in Kabara, etc. - whose duty it was to collect entrance and exit fees, to record the number of boats in the port and their load capacity and to keep track of the state's fleet. The overall system was headed by the 'Hi-koi' supreme military commander - and the 'hari farma" - supreme chief of the waters (TYmowski, 1967). The state maintained its own fleet, obtained from the servile caste of boat-builders and also manned by these latter; other vessels were ”privately“ owned, that is probably, owned by a lineage. As witnessed later by Rene Caille in the 19th century, the crew of a transport canoe was made up of 16 to 18 men, headed by a captain 'fanfa'. The vessels were often organized in flotillas with their own organization based on mutual support (Tymowski, 1967). war-making completed the economic role of the rivers in western Sudan. "It is not just by chance that the most important battles of .‘ ”J DID ‘ ..rc '. .1 ‘ 9O l a” i 1.. I '0!“ ‘F 'm- | ‘ I ”4' . U- a I. I it u 3" II. ' n. 'i'v ~|. .. a In“: I..- 47 the Songhai empire took place on the banks of the Niger” says Tymowski (1967), Cissokho (1966) recalls that during its siege, Djenne was cut off from the rest of the world for 7 years by a flotilla of 400 vessels. The attempt by Sonni Ali-her, founder of the empire, to build a canal from Ras e1 Ma to Oualata in order to facilitate the transport of troops, shows that - at least in Songhai - the use of naval means for warfare was a conscious strategy. The importance of the hi-koi, in the state gives further proof of this fact. In Segu the somono 'faama' had a critical position in the state military organization while the carrying of troops and war material to the battle field was an explicit aSpect of the "social contract" between the Somcnc fishermen and the state (Roberts, 1981). In summary, the multi-faceted importance of fisher folk and of rivers in the political and economic developments of medieval Sudan was critical. As expressed by Smith (1979): 'It has been said that "mountains divide and rivers unite“ and the history of the Niger bears out the latter part of this statement. In the West Sudanese empires of Mali and SOnghai, it was the Niger which enabled remote provinces to be brought under control and administered, which gave access to markets and whose banks provided sites for the main towns. Songhai notably, was able (as Mali had not been) to extend its power beyond the Sotuba rapids to the Southwest and as far as Boussa to the Southeast. "C'est au fleuve que ces territoires doivent leur cohesion politique et economique' writes Tymowski. This conclusion can also be applied to states further down the river such as Nope..." 48 3.2. ‘Ihg_west Atlantic Coast 24 Information on the West African coast before the arrival of the Europeans is scarce if not nonexistent. Early descriptions of the Western SUdan by Arabic and indigenous writers paid little attention to coastal peoples despite the fact that early relations between the two areas is undubitable. It is only with the arrival of the first Portuguese explorers,25 heavily preoccupied at that time with all the details likely to serve their commercial and navigational interests, that a significant mass of information became available. H To approach an understanding of the maritime economy of otheg_west . Atlantic coast during the Middle Ages, one should constantly bear in mind the basic ethnic, economic and political map of an area subject to . complex processes among which the Sudanese hegemony and, from the 16th century onward, the progressive economic and political take-over by Europeans. 24 The west Atlantic coast is the area stretching from Mauritania to modern Liberia. It includes the whole Senegambian coast and the Upper Guinea coast (in the terminology'of w; Rodney) from the Casamance (overlapping both areas) to Liberia. The most useful descriptions for the period have been the work of valentin Fernandes (1506-1510), Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1506-1508) and of earlier explorers such as Zurara (1452-1453), Ca De Mosta (1455-1456) and Diogo Games (1482). 49 3. 2.1. The Peoplim o_f the Coast and the Political Dominance o_f the Hinterland States The first fundamental element concerning the west Atlantic littoral is 'that its very peopling was the result of continuous dislocation, over centuries, of populations from the interior to the coast. According to Rodney (1970), this process might have started as early as the 3rd century A.D. By the 11th century, the general pattern of migration in this area was already well established, as people moved in two directions : from North to South and from East to west. The actual sequence of arrival of those people on the coast is, however, more difficult to assess. It is clear, in any case, that by the 12th century, the Sherbro were present in Sierra Leone while the Bullom are reported as being the single dominant group of that area (Rodney, 1970: Stride & Ifeka, 1971). By that time, North of Sierra Leone, the Baga, displaced from the FUta Jalon Mountains had moved toward their present habitat in Guinea and the Serer had reached the "Petite Cote“ of Senegambia. The Enta Jalon was a crucial transitional zone in those times. It is through this mountain chain that the Suau moved in the 13th century after their defeat at the hands of the Mandinkas26 before settling - like the Baga - on the coast of present-day Guinea. Between Guinea and the Gambia river, in an area encompassing the Casamance and present-day 26 The Susu, of Mande Stock, were part of the Share Empire. After the breakdown of Ghana, they formed their own ambitions kingdom, 80850, which was later defeated by the army'of Sunjata founder of the Mali empire. ' a-‘t Nb. u '0- r. I‘. ’I *5. I ‘5‘ '5 ’25}: (kc ‘fl. ‘- ‘u rte: l 4’15 so ., Guinea-Bissau, the first known settlers were the so-called ”littoral refoules": Diola, Banhun, Balanta, Pepel, Bijago, Kasanga, Biafada, who despite their diversity present clear features of linguistic and cultural unity (Rodney, 1970). It is believed that very early, since, maybe, the 10th or 11th century (Brooks, 1981), Mandinka migrants had also peacefully infiltrated the area (Mane, 1979). Mandinka traders - the Dyula - were roaming the area and were successful middlemen in the trade networks of the time. Other Mande groups such as the vai and Kbno had also come from beyond the upper Niger in search of salt and settled in their present habitat in Liberia and Sierra Leone. By the 15th century, all these groups and certainly others were present on the West Atlantic coast. When the first Portuguese came they also Ecund Azenegue27 fishermen on the Mauritanian coast (Fernandes, 1938) and Wolcf, who are first mentioned as an ethnic entity with the emergence of the Djolof empire which extended from the Senegal hinterland to the mouth of the Senegal river (Diogo Gomes, 1959). Other groups reached the coast around that time or later. The late walter Rodney (1970) noted that up to the 16th century, the Temne - one of the most powerful groups of the Sierra Leone littoral - were still considered as an inland people. By the end of that century, however, they had reached the Sierra Leone estuary and had cut the Bulloms into two parts. In the. Senegambia, the Lebu who were to become one the most famous groups of specialized fishenmen on the littoral, moved to the Cape Vert and 27 The Azenegues fishermen described by Fernandes are assimilated .to the Imraguen of Mauritania by Robin (1955). Supporting this interpretation is the work of lieutenant Revol (1937) who describes the Imraguen fishing technique in all points similar to that of the Azenegues described by Fernandes (1938). 51 “Petite Cbte' area only in the 17th century, with the creation of their theocratic confederation taking place even later, at the 18th century. It is also during this period that another group of skilled fishermen - the Kru - present today in Liberia and Ivory Coast, appear in the literature of Sierra Leone “because of their skills as sailors which earned them frequent mentions.” (Rodney, 1970). On the political front, almost the totality of the west Atlantic coast was either incorporated or under the control of the Mali«enpire at the 15th century. ”The connection between the two areas, says 'Rodney, was intimate and fundamental.‘ The Kingdom of Kaabu founded by a lieutenant of Sunjata in the 13th century had become a power in its ‘cwn right and was controlling more than 32 provinces in the Guineo-Gambian space (Mane, 1979). Moreover, Manding aristrocracies of warriors were co-opted into the ruling monarchy of the Gambian state of Nyomi which so impressed Diogo Gomes by the size of its canoe fleet. Even beyond the Gambia, in Serer country, the state of Siin at its establishment in the 15th century, was to be headed by a Manding dynasty, the Gelawar. By the beginning or the middle of the 14th century, Handing migrants from Kaabu had also reached the Gandun islands at the mouth of the Salum river where they intermixed with the autochtonous Serer inhabitants. From their encounter will emerge the 'Nydminka sub-group of fishermen - agriculturalists, considered today as a branch of the larger Serer ethnic entity (Martin & Beckert cited in Van Chi, 1977; Pelissier, 1966). Down south, in Sierra Leone, another Wanda group - the Manes - were opening a major political crisis by invading the country in the 16th and 17th centuries. They subjugated the Temne, Bullom and Sherbro, captured the Sierra Leone watering place 52 and founded the Kingdoms of Bullom, Sherbro, Sierra Leone (Bure) and Lagos. In this process, the warrior elite of the Mane army became the new aristocracy of the coast (Rodney, 1970; Stride & Ifeka, 1971). Thus, it can be seen, that even before the full fledge development of the Atlantic trade the West Atlantic littoral was a major stake in the power interplays of the Middle Age. Panda political dominance, however, cannot sum up the totality of West Atlantic societies. All the people enumerated in this chapter have contributed to the actual socio-political configuration of the area. In fact, Mande people were, most often, rapidly absorbed by the groups they had conquered, as in the examples of Siin and Sierre Leone. Following the 16th century, several states emerged in the Senegambia, independent from Manding dominance (Rita Djalon, Kajor, Waalo, etc...). Parallely, original forms of commal organization were developed, in particular by the so-called "refoules,’ on the basis of village and family units (cf Diagne, 1967; Pelissier, 1966; Leary, 1971). 3.2.2. Fishigg 2'29 the Littoral Economy Fishing was a regular activity of coastal peoples in the 15th century and predates European arrival on the coast. Although adequate information is difficult to piece together, it can be said that most of the littoral peoples combined fishing and other ocean-based activities such as salt production, with farming. Progressively however, occupational specialization starts to develop anong those peoples. Fernandes and Pereira refer to the peoples of the Senegalese littoral and of Rio de Cesto in present-day Liberia as 'great fishermen' 53 practicing canoe - fishing up to '2-3 leagues' from the coast. At that time, the Nyomi state of Gambia and the Bijagos in Guinea-Bissau already' play a prominent role in fishing and in riverine as well as coastal ferrying, while the Bulloms of Sierra Leone produce fish and salt to exchange for agricultural products, mainly rice. Off the coast of Senegal, an oyster industry, created maybe since the 4th' century A.D., is flourishing (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). Sophisticated methods of irrigated farming were developed on the Upper Guinea coast and peoples such as the Balantas, Banhun and Diola had mastered the mangrove swamp and were major suppliers of rice in the region. They were also livestock breeders. Salt production and its trade was particularly important to the littoral economy. Almost certainly the first mineral to be commercially exploited in west Africa (Brooks, 1981), salt was collected from mangrove leaves, produced by direct evaporation of seawater or extracted from salt impregnated soils, by percolation. Salt-making was virtually an all-year around activity. Rodney describes the importance of this trade as follows: "The ability of salt to generate trade and to attract people over amazing distances is well known. The Senegal was involved in the great trade net of the Sudanic empires by virtue of the salt obtainable at Aulil at the mouth of the Senegal river. Though this was not the case of the Upper Guinea coast, salt was nevertheless the most important item fostering contact between the littoral and the hinterland. The Baga on. . . the Pongo. . .were particularly important salt producers. . .it was noted in the latter half of the 17th century that every year, three caravans of Djalonke (the inhabitants of the FUta Jalon) set out for the coast principally in search of salt. One went North to the Senegal, one to the Gambia and a third to the Pongo.' In exchange for their salt, coastal peoples were seeking major products such as gold and cereals. Fernandes observed that the inhabitants of 54 the Rio Grande were taking their salt to the hinterland in Mandinka land in order to exchange it against gold. Pereira also notes that the salt of the Bulloes (sic) was exchanged against gold. Salt, dried fish, and mollusk were traded by coastal Serer commities with groups of the interior. In general, salt was linked to the coastwise exchange of kola, malagueta pepper and other forest products (Brooks, 1981). I The traditional west African canoe was fundamental to this trade and to the overall economic life of the region. It is said that in the Gambia, up to the 18th century, ”This trade gave great power and authority to the Mandinka King of Barra at the Gambia estuary, since he had a fleet of canoes employed in ferrying salt up the river.“ (Rodney, 1970). The traditional West African canoe was so important as a means of transport and communication that in the denSe network of rivers of the Upper Guinea coast, people used to portage their canoe overland in order to make the connection between two rivers (Ibid). In the 15th century, maritime vessels varied widely according to their use and to their users. In the Arguin region (Mauritania), the vessel of the Azenegue fishermen was no more than a lumber-raft tied together with the roots of a plant, which was also used to make nets (Mauny, 1961). South of the Senegal river, several types of canoes are described, from the small dug-out canoes carrying 3-4 persons to huge water crafts able to take up to 38 people in the Cape vert and Petite Cote, 60 in Bijagos island, or 100 in the Gambia estuary (cf Chauveau, 1982b; Rodney, 1970). The first vessels described were without sail and board. While the smallest canoes were mainly fishing vessels, the larger boats were geared toward transport, trade and war in a fashion 55 similar to the boats of the Upper Niger circle. Canoes were used on the rivers of the coastal plain as well as along the coast. Fishing gear techniques were also varied. The most prevalent in the 15th century were line fishing with bone-hooks, spearing, trapping, poisoning, bow and arrow fishing and netting. Hendrix (1938), notes that spearing and bow and arrow shooting could be practiced from a canoe as well as from the shore and that "the use of some type of netting for the capture of fish was universally employed throughout the Upper Guinea coast.” Cast-nets similar in design to those used on the anger bend, draw-nets, set-nets and drift nets are quoted among those. It is reminded that in the vicinity of the Senegal river mouth, Fernandes described the use of a trap-net in the shape of a handbag made of palm-oil leaves (see also Mauny, 1961). Also described by Fernandes is the trap net used by the Azenegue fishermen of Mauritania in combination with harpooning (Fernandes, 1938).28 Thus, by the 15th century, fishing is practiced by west Atlantic coastal populations, on the significant scale, all along the littoral. Maritime fishing is, however, much less developed than traditional continental fishing and on the coast, protected estuaries, lagoons and coastal lakes were the favorite fishing grounds. Chauveau mentions that in the Senegambia, the Cape vert and the 'Petite Cote' offered particularly secure conditions and are the place _of a more intense exploitation of marine resources. They are also 'the place where 28 According to Chauveau (1982b), citing Ca Da Mosta who wrote in the 1450's, cotton nets were in use at that time. This information, however, is controversial (Hendrix, personal communication) and needs to be double-checked by a direct reference to the Protuguese originals of Ca De Mosto. 56 (today) testimonies on fishing gears and craft are the most accurate" (Chauveau, 1982b). Chauveau's periodization of maritime fishing in the economic history of the Senegambian littoral (1982) is at present, the only' one available for a part of the West Atlantic coast. It provides precious information on the Senegambia and reveals major trends of the west Atlantic littoral economy after the 16th century. Through the 17th century, a technological revolution takes place in the Senegambia with the adoption of complex rigs on dug-out canoes used for fishing as much as for transportation. Fishing technologies also diversified with the appearance of the beach seine. Coastal exchanges are amplified, European trading and military forts multiplied and activities directly linked to the maritime economy such as techniques of bar passing, boosted. Fishing is regulated for Ebropeans by the states of the hinterland (such as Kajor and Mealo) who also have trading relations with European dealers. In this 'multiple partners exchange economy', coastal populations were playing a fundamental role as middlemen, supplying agricultural and other local produce to Europeans and salt, dried fish and shellfish to the hinterland. Saint Louis, where Tyubalbe fishermen come to settle, the ”Petite Cote" and Gambia were at the forefront of this trade, while the peoples of the ”Southern rivers" were refraining from getting involved in the Enropean trade. . The 18th century marks the climax of the slave trade which dominated the Senegambian economy and the littoral. General insecurity is developed on sea as on land, and the regional economy is characterized by a general regression of the activities not tightly connected to the trans-Atlantic trade. Coastal production ceases to be 57 complementary to that of the hinterland and is developed primarily for the benefit of the inhabitants of European ports and adjacent inland areas. Only the salt trade seems to escape this trend. Most important, the sophisticated rigs of the previous century disappeared, together with coastal sailing. The Nyomi, increasingly autonomous from the rest of the Senegambia trading with the French, is an exception. Trade there, is prosperous and big transport vessels numerous. As a whole the economy is increasingly polarized around 'traite' ports such as Saint Louis, which becomes the new pole of technological innovation and develops specific technologies necessary to the trade with Enropean ships anchored off the coast. Bar passing techniques were further developed. Planks are sewn to the dug-out canoe which is also equipped with stems as well as simiplified, but functional, sails. FUrther in-migration of Tyubalbe fishermen and, above all, of waalo-waalo populations from.the Senegal River valley lead, to the creation of the maritime fishing village of Get-Ndar in Saint Louis. In spite of the production of salt and dried fish and shellfish, commercial activities 'dominated production per se. Continental fishing is still the major source of fish production in the 19th century. 3.3. THE GULF OF GUINEA 3.3.1. The Rise of States on thelGuinea Coast States came to life relatively late in the Gulf of Guinea where powerful political and military entities, even at their apex in the 18th century, did not match in scale the earlier empires of the western 58 Sudan. However, the whole history of the Gulf of Guinea is dominated from _the 15th century onward, by'a few states - Benin, Oyo Dahomey, Asante and Fante - whose development intermingled tightly with the political economy of the coast and the history of inland as well as maritime fishing. Special mention should be made also of the city-state of the Niger delta which played a decisive role in the socio-political upheavals of the centuries preceeding colonial takeover. The Bini state of Benin, which extended just west of the Niger delta and controlled the whole western coast of modern Nigeria up to Lagos, was the first of these states - along with Oyo - to emerge, in the 14th century. Reaching its greatest splendor early in the 15th-16th century, Benin will survive until the 19th century and was exchanging ambassadors with Portugal by the end of the 15th century. Around that time, the Yoruba Kingdom of Oyo had already grown as a formidable inland state. By the 18th century Oyo's power had reached its height. Barred from Northward expansion by the powerful Hausa state of Nupe, Oyo made its imperial growth southward, directly controlling the forest and the 200 miles long ”Egbado corridor" leading to the coastal outlet of Badagri. Taking advantage of its quick-raiding cavalry, Oyo had developed the power to police wide areas and to extract enormous revenues in customs, taxes and tolls from tributary states such as Dahomey. By forcing its authority on this latter state in particular, Oyo was giving itself some say in the active transatlantic trade of the Dahomean and Ewe coast. By the 18th century, Oyo traders were actively participating in trade with Europeans through ports such as Porto Novo and Whydah. (Stride & 59 Ifeka, 1971), which were among the main coastal trading posts of the state of Dahomey ruled by the an, a branch of the larger Adja group. The Dahomey kingdom rose in the 17th and 18th century when the Fon of Abomey definitely established their hegemony over all the other Adja groups and their territories. Litterally kept under .leash by Oyo, however, Dahomey is forced, from the 18th century onward, to pay an annual tribute to Oyo of "40 men, 40 women, 40 guns, 400 loads of cowries and corrals'. It was not until a century later that it was able to shake the imperial strength of Oyo and to become, in the 19th century, one of the most famous military powers in all West Africa (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). ' west of Dahomey, two entities, well-established by the 18th century, dominate the history of present day Ghana, Togo and Ivory coast. Both states - Asante and Fante - emerged from the large groupings of Akan peoples, sharing similar laws, customs, religion and united by a system of 7&8 matrilinenal and 8-9 patrilineal clans. Political rivalry was intense anong Akan groups. A map of 1629 shows that at that time, Akan states were making 28 out of 34 small states clustered in Southern Ghana (Adu Boahen, 1965; Stride & Ifeka, 1971). By 1750, however, after a succession of changes and political readjustments, the Asante state and the Fante Union had partitioned the Gold coast between themselves and were keeping the English and the Dutch in check. Asante, the more powerful of the two, will finally succeed in briefly incorporating Fante into an empire of unprecedented power in the entire Gold Coast. 3.3.2. ngoon, Riverine and Coastal Communities gt Fishers i3 the Political Economy of the Gulf of Guinea The growth of state in the Gulf of Guinea took place at a turning point in African history. we have seen, as in the western SUdan, that the center of state supremacy progressively shifted eastward from the time of the Ghana empire to that of Songhai. The fall of Songhai in the 16th century, marks another shift eastward toward the Hausa city states and Kano, while states gain in importance in the immediate hinterland of the Senegambian and Upper Guinea coast. In the Gulf of Guinea, at a time when the Atlantic trade starts developing at an- increasing pace, political and economic competition is progressively diverted toward the coast and European trading forts an Ships. By the 18th century, the economic map of all West Africa is definitively reshaped. The trans-saharan trade, though still important, is no longer the exclusive channel for long-distance trade, as the coast, from a periphery, becomes the active center of new'trade networks leading to overseas markets. As on the west Atlantic coast, these changes along with other historical conditions, have a definite impact on the position of the fisherfolk of the gulf, from the Gold Coast to the Niger Delta. a) The Gold Coast The origins of fishing on the Gold coast seem to have been subject to a certain amount of confusion, probably due to the overwhelming role played by Fante fishermen of the coast since the 18th century. Rowena 60 61 Lawson (1974), among others, has credited the Fante for diffusing fishing culture to Ghana, she writes: "Many legends surround the origins of Ghana's fishing industry...It seems to be generally believed that the craft of fishing was introduced into Fante country first,...Sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century. Fantes seem to have been responsible for the spread of knowledge and skill of fishing to other parts of the coast and in many places, fishermen relate that the industry started when Fante canoes first landed on the beach.“ This set of beliefs, apparently drawn from oral accounts, is shared by a Gold Coast historian such as Brown (in Christensen, 1977) and stems from the particularly dynamic role played by Fante fishermen in the development of ocean fishing in Ghana. However, the picture thus presented is not totally accurate because it ignores the role of pro-Akan peoples not only in the Gold coast but in the Ivory Coast as well. Long before the mid-18th century, which is the time when the Fante and Asante unions effectively divided the coast of present-day Ghana between them, fishing was practiced by indigenous people of the area. Fishing as an activity and fish products as items of trade on the Gold Coast even predate the first European contacts of the 15th century. As early as 1400, salt, fish and cloth from the coastal region, and kola-nuts, gold dust and slaves from the forest area, were items integrated into the trans-saharan trade network. At that time, three 1 branches of the two most important routes connected the great markets of Mali and Hausaland to the coastal terminii of Elmina, Cape Coast and Accra (Adu Boahen, 1965; Stride & Ifeka, 1971). In Ghana as well as Ivory Coast, fishing was a regular activity - particularly in the lagoon swamps - preceeding the arrival of the first 62 Akan groups in the area. Archeological evidence show'that in Southern Ivory Coast, lagoon fisherfolk had been living in tiny hamlets bordering the lagoons “since at least the iron age and probably, since the stone age' (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). It is likely that well before the migratory waves of Akan and Ron (from the west) peoples at the 17th and of an original civilization based on the complementarity of fishing, agriculture and iron working (verdeaux, 1981). With the settlement of these in-migrants from the forest, a process of fusion/assimilation at the end of which new cultural and ethnic entities emerged in the lagoons takes place. In the process, these groups of in migrants, generally considered as the dynamic element among 'lagunaire' folks, had taken up fishing and adopted distinctive socio-cultural "traits such as systems of age classes found neither among Akan nor Kru socieites." (verdeaux, 1981). At about the sane time and perhaps earlier, a similar process was taking place in southern Ghana where groups of lagoon folks - the Guan - were undergoing the two-pronge pressure of Ga-adangbe and Ewe in-migrants from the East and Akan groups, among which the Fante - from the Northwest. From this. time on, the Guan started undergoing a process of cultural and ethnic assimilation by these groups, a process still not achieved today. As in the Ivory Coast's lagoons, this process was not unilateral, since these settlers are likely to have taken up fishing upon contact with the lagoon folks and their environment, to the point where groups such as the Ga-adangbe incorporated the fishing gods of the Guan into their own religion (Stride & Ifeka, 1917). The fact that, according to Fyfe (1965), Akan peoples were looking for fish and salt when first established contacts 63 with Guan and Ga-adangbe groups, further demonstrates the anteriority of fishing among the lagoon folks of Southern Ghana. According to Adu Boahen, Fante was still, during the first half of the 17th century, an inland state with its capital inland and only three main coastal outlets. At that time, the transatlantic trade was on the way to supplanting long-distance trade on the continent and the control of the coast was rapidly becoming a means for securing important sources of revenue. Gold, ivory and humans turned into slave commodities were increasingly exchanged against guns, gunpowder, textiles and luxury items while European ships and forts had to pay dues, customs and rents to their so-called coastal ‘1andlords'. Though attracted by the lucrative position of middlemen that could be given by the control of the coast, the powerful Asante never succeeded in overrunning the Fante union until the 19th century. In the meantime, Fante city-states were tightening their hold on the most commercially active parts of the coast and were developing their coastal colonies. One of Fante's coastal outlets in the 17th century, Anomabu, illustrates Fante evolution with regard to the coast. Probably founded in the 16th century by Guan (or maybe Fante) people, Anomabu underwent intense in-mflgration mainly from Fante of the interior and had become by 169M, the most important trading center of the entire coast. I Around that time, accounts from Enropean voyages reveal that skillful fishing was already developed on the coast. Barbot who made his last voyage in the Gold Cbast in 1682, reported to have ”often seen at Mina 700 or 800 canoes come out...at a time to fish with hooks and lines about a league of two off the sea". According to him, the ‘o {i 64 peoples of the coast had already developed techniques to pass the bars and carry goods and provisions all along the coast, as far as Angola.29 According to Barbot, the fishers of Mina were ”the fittest and most experienced to manage and paddle the canoes over the bars and breakings" while 'the sailorsof Winneba and Axim navigated their craft over the worst and more dreadful beating seas". Later in the 18th century, Adams, also notes that 'a smooth sea caused every boat to be launched for fishing.“ (Smith, 1979), while Bosman records that the Fante had thousands of fishermen and traded by sea with Accra to the East and Axim to the west (Christensen, 1977). According to Lawson (1974), the main method of fishing in the Gold Coast, through the 19th century, consisted of simple lines and. small coast nets, used both from the shore and from canoes. These cast-nets were made of pineapple leaf fibers twisted into cord by rolling on the thigh, a slow'and laborious task. wall nets were also made from fiber and were anchored with stones while calabashes were used as floats (Christensen, 1977). No later than 1682, sails are described as being used by the natives of Winneba and Axim (Smith, 197m), two centuries earlier than it is sometimes believed (Christensen, 1977). Further down the coast, beyond the frontiers of modern Ghana, people seem to have avoided the open sea. While De Surgy referred to the Pla fishermen of ancient Dahomey as ”neither great fishermen, nor great sailors" (Pliya, 1981), Smith recalls that, between whydah in ancient Dahomey and Lagos in historical Benin, European vessels, in order to carry out their trade with peoples of the area, had to hire Fante crews and take with them canoes from the Gold Cbast. 29 Angola, according to Smith (1976) might have meant Loango in the language of the time. 65 Adams, quoted by Smith (1979), writes that trade in this area of the Gulf of Guinea required: ”one or two canoes and a set of canoe-men, both of these are to be obtained at Cape Coast...the canoemen, in number twenty-one receive mostly wages and subsistence during the time they are employed. The surf on this line of the coast being very heavy, and the natives never passing it, either for the purpose of fishing or trade, and boats being at all times unavailable for the purpose of communicating with the shore, renders a canoe and canoe-men of the above description indispensable." Several points could be discussed as an explanation for this distinction between seafarers and other fishermen of the Gulf of Guinea.30 A major element seems to be, however, that even more than in the west Atlantic coast, the network of lagoons, lakes and rivers paralleling 500 miles off the coast line from the Niger Delta to the Vblta Estuary, were an ideal alternative to sea-faring.31 b) Ancient Dahomey In Dahomey, the dense and extended system of lagoons and swamps provided secure conditions for water communication and fishing and served as a refuge against the deadly raids of the Fon army constantly in search of slaves. Two groups of lagoon fishermen dominate the 30 In addition to the geographical conditions, Smith thinks that early history and traditional origins might be an explanation for the difference. we have seen, however, that the Fante were, in the 15th-16th century, as much an inland people as the Yoruba, cited by Smith's as a counter-example. 31- The particular dynamism of maritime fishing on the Gold Coast might have been favored by natural conditions. Smith notes in particular that in the area firm beaches afforded easy access to the sea, while the small promon- taries jutting out from Axim gave shelter to the prevailing currents and winds. 66 history of ancient.Eahomey - the Pedah and the Pla - both considered as a branch of the larger Adja group to whom also belong the an, the A120 and the Gun-'people of the water' as called by Bourgoignie (1972). The Pedah, called 'Popo' fishermen by the Portuguese, are believed to have been the first settlers32 of the country and, in the 15th century, they were already occupying the area surrounding Lake Aheme and had established the capital of their kingdom, Sahe. Later, they founded on the coast the outpost of Whydah, which became so important in the development of the Atlantic trade on the coasts of Dahomey (Pliya, 1981). According to sources quoted by Pliya, the Pla might have followed the same trajectory as the Pedah, splitting from these latter when they reached Lake Aheme. From there, they followed in canoes the course of the Mono River until they reached their main habitat in the lagoons bordering the littoral, as far as the Tbgo-Ghana border. In the centuries following the 17th century, the life of those fishing folks was to be profoundly disturbed by the rise of the Abomey kingdom which in 1724 successfully conquered the rival state of Allada and in 1727 overran the Pedah state and burned its capital to the ground. Put directly in contact with Enropean slave dealers by the capture of the towns on the coast, Abomey kings seem to have resisted involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and to have even destroyed several slaving ports of Dahomey. By the end of the 18th century, however, the economy' of the kingdom was already deeply rooted in the 32 As in the lagoons of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the Pedah probably found in the groups of hunter-fishermen - 'Aghe' who proceeded them and are still taken as the "real owners of the land" (Pliya, 1981). 67 slave trade. The conjunction of these two factors - the conquest of all Adja states by Abomey and the development of the 'traite des negres' on what will be named the ”slave coast” - will have a tremendous impact of populations on fishers. Continuously raided and hunted down, these people were unceasingly dislocated and sought refuge inland, in the swamps of the littoral lagoons and of Lake Aheme. This situation grossly' remained the same until the 19th century, when even the shift from slave dealing to palm-oil production did not prevent these populations, along with others, to be sought for enslavement in the plantations (Kilkenny, 1981). The destruction of Sahe and the capture of coastal Whydah were first to provoke a massive exodus of Pedah populations. At that time, they moved 'en masse' toward Lake Aheme in canoes heavily loaded with 'Vbduns' (gods) and signs of their wealth. At about the same time, the A120 hunter-agriculturalists from Allada also settled on the banks of Lake Aheme and established villages of fisher-agriculturalists. During the whole period Pedah groups will be forced to move always farther in the swampizones where they will meet other raided peoples of the region such as the Pia. In reality, no place escaped the control of Dahomey. Colonies of an families were systematically transplanted from Abomey into conquered territories and custom officers were sent all over the lagoons. . In the many islands and villages where these populations mixed, salt production, the exploitation of palm trees and fishing became the dominant activity of all groups including the Fan. Cast-net fishing was practiced, in particular by Pla fishermen, as well as fencing and trapping by Pedah and Ebn fishermen. As a whole, the inland and 68 coastal complex of lagoons became "par excellence" the refuge zone where mixed populations specialized in fishing and salt production, and were unable to constitute any homogenous and structured political entity (Pliya, 1981). However, the conquest and control of lagoon folks of Dahomey was not as easy as it appears. The forms of naval warfare which they developed in their resistance to Abomey's drive toward the sea, reveal both their mastery of aquatic conditions of the area and the military side of their social organization. Ambush and blockades were used and Smith recalls that in 1726-7 the Dahomeans were greatly hampered by their lack of canoes. In a later battle in 1753, they were drawn to a spit of land between the sea and the lagoons and had their retreat cut off by the Popo who then opened fire on them "at their leisure, from. their canoes" (Smith, 1970). Elaborated forms of naval warfare in the lagoons existed not only in Dahomey but also in Lagos and the Niger Delta. Strong tenure systems served to regulate life in the inland lagoons and the coastal complex where, in general rule, rights to the land were determined by the historical conditions of its occupation with the king or the chief of migration.being commonly chief of the land but being distinct from the religious chief in charge of_ the voduns cult. In the aquatic world, collective ownership was the rule, modified only by the possibility for any individual or group of fishermen to own the gear (dykes, fences, traps) used in the water (Pliya, 1981). Fla fishermen, who had a great mastery of lagoon fishing, had also settled on the littoral and were fishing the sea since the 18th av." ‘7 " I.‘. .L‘ q:hb ~3- s. d \ ‘1‘): ‘lc V AC 69 century. It seems, however, that lacking the appropriate boats, gear and techniques for efficient ocean fishing, they limited'themselves to the use, from the beach, of the same gears they used for lagoon fishing (cast—nets, hand-lines) . It is only with the full-fledged development of the colonial economy, that maritime fishing will experience new developments, correlative to the massive in-migration of We fishermen from Ghana (Pliya, 1981). c) The Niger Delta In the Niger Delta, maritime fishing is not recorded as a Z widespread activity before modern times. The situation of the fisherfolk of the area, however, differed on fundamental grounds from that of Dahomey's fishermen; the most striking aspect being that Delta people, instead of raided populations, were instrumental, as active middlemen, in the slave trade. Over 28,000 kms of mangrove swamps, creeks, and waterways and low-lying land, an original form of political organization based on the city-state came to life in the early 15th century among the different groups of people who settled in the area. According to legends, these group were preceeded in the Delta by previous inhabitants 'Umuale,” whom they had either chased out or completely absorbed (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). By 1500 the Itsekiri of the Western Delta had founded the kingdom of Warri culturally linked to Benin. Sobo coastal dwellers were also on the western side of the Delta. The Central Delta was the land of the Ibo who founded the city-states of Nembe, Kalahari and Bonni. During 70 the 17th century the Efik, a branch of the Ibibio, moved from the forest to the creeks around the Calabar River in the Eastern Delta where they founded the city-state of_Old calabar. Coastal Ibibio .are also found in the Eastern Delta. While the Itsekiri of warri have evolved particular institutions under the cultural and political influence of Benin, basic patterns of socio-economic organization characterized the peoples of the Delta. In response to their environmental conditions these peoples did not evolve strong centralized states; instead, they built a myriad of settlements and villages - each under the leadership of a headman - within what could be called 'trading empires.‘ Among the Ijo and Efik, villages were built around the ”house system;' that is, the socio-political subdivision of a village into households and wards (quarters). Houses, equal in principle and homogenous in their composition, consisted of lineage group members under the authority of a council of elders. In the final analysis, the city-state itself was a confederation of houses, generally composed of a capital, satellite villages and a trading region in the interior forest belt (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). In a context where inland waterways were more extensively used than the sea and where canoes on the Rio Real could bring merchandise from 100 leagues or more up the river (Smith, 1970), peoples of the Niger Delta had two central economic activities, fishing and trading. Before their occupational involvement in slave dealing, Delta peoples were inserted into the long distance trade networks, and were exporting salt and fish to the hinterland in exchange for agricultural produce such as yams and farm animals such as cows, goats and sheep (Smith, 1970; Mauny, 1961). Even after the full fledged development bf the slave trade in the Delta, it is reported that the second most important occupations were 71 "making oil and trading to Ibo country" (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). To carry out this trade, the dug-out canoe was the means of transport and coumunication "par excellence'f and was included among the commodities to be bought from the forest for "in the word of a Nembe druu song: . 1 Tall as theMangrove grows It makes no canoe The Nembe make no canoe” (Isichei, 1977) Pereira in the 16th century was deeply impressed by the canoes he saw in the Eastern Delta. Says he: ”the bigger canoes here, made from a single tree trunk, are the largest in the Ethiopias of Guinea, some of them are large enough to hold 80 men." These canoes had their own cooking hearths, and special arrangements for the storage of the crews sleeping mats. Mich larger than the canoes of the Gold Coast, some were 70 ft. long and 7-8 ft. broad and had a sort’of quarter deck made of strong reeds (Smith, 1970). Later in the late 18th century, "large canoes capable of carrying 120 persons" were seen, engaged in slaving expeditions up the river, capable of coming back with 1500 or 2000 victims (Ibid). According to Snith, genuine forms of naval warfare were developed in the Delta - as in the lagoon swamp of Benin and Dahomey - where in the 19th century war canoes were even equipped with cannons both fore and aft, muskets and other small and large 9018, along with earlier weapons. The canoe was therefore, fundamental. to life in the Delta and, with the development of the slave trade, it became the very basis of the state. The trans-Atlantic slave trade, which dates back to the ' 16th century, mderwent large scale expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries when the demand for slave labor increased with the 72 colonization of the Americas and the Carribean. The stakes were so high that wars were fought on both sides of the Atlantic for appropriation of its speculative profits. In this process, the Niger Delta was to become one of the most important export center of human commodities in west Africa. As reported by Stride & Ifeka, an English captain observed that in the late 18th century, the Ijo city-state of Bonny was: ”The wholesale market for slaves, since no fewer than 20,000 are sold hereevery day." Ibos from the Nigerian forest seem to have been the major victims of this trade. as over a 20 year period, ”not less than 320,000" of them were exported by Bonny.and-'S0,000 more” by New and Old Calabar (Stride & Ifeka, 1971). if ' . ' The grafting cf slave dealing onto the traditional Delta trading system had a tremendous impact. the traditional 'house system' gave way to the 'canoe house‘, ”a well-organized fishing and trading corporation of kinsmen, strangers and slaves capable of maintaining the fleet of war canoes necessary for a successful participation in the trade. These trading and military corporations were vitally needed to keep open the strategic water-ways linking the slave producing hinterland to the coastal ports. A successful, dynamic canoe house would produce junior houses connected to the mother house. As the trading system became more complex, middlemen became more and more specialized. More and more market-brokers appeared in the slave-dealing chain. Credit was organized through the system of the ”Trust trade“, with Enropean slave dealers advancing credit to powerful middlemen, house-heads and kings to buy slaves inland in return for a 73 specific share of the victims carried to the coast. In addition to direct sales, important revenues accrued to house, kings and settlements controlling strategic-waterways, in the form of trading dues (comey) paid by European ships, duties and fines. Secret societies were created among the Efik, partly in order to enforce the trust-trade and the structural unity of the city-state. wealth, as a condition for political power was superimposed on the traditional lineage system and domestic slaves were able to become powerful canoe-house heads. 4. THE CLOSIM} O_P; A HISTORICAL BPOCH This historical sketch of west African fishing developments through the Middle Ages reveals that this activity - practiced since prehistoric times - is an integral part of the socio-economic processes and political upheavals which shook and shaped west African social formations at large. For centuries, the west African hinterland stood as the gravitational center for the economic and political life of the region. Inland waterways, rivers, lagoons and protected estuaries were the laboratories where fishing crafts, gears, techniques and organization were first elaborated, tested and developed. Compared to inland fisheries, maritime fishing developed relatively late and the Atlantic ocean was rarely explored. Maritime groups such as the Fante, Kru, Lebu and Get-Ndar fishermen, whose role in modern fisheries is today preeminent, established themselves as maritime fishermen as late as the 17th century. However, maritime fishing was largely practiced all along the coast, no later than the 15th century. 74 The unfolding of the major social processes concerning fishing communities through the Middle Ages gives valuable insights about the dynamics of state and nation formation, ethnic aggregation and disaggregation, basic patterns of coastal peopling, in short, the very making of contemporary fishing societies in their relation to macro sociological processes. Integrated in the great trade networks of the western Sudan and, later, of the Atlantic, the economy* of fishing commities was as a rule, multidimensional. Fishing was complemented by activities such as salt production, ferrying, farming, trading and even slave dealing. In the fulfillment of their economic role, original forms of social organization influenced by the specific societal context, were developed by fishing communities. The integration of these communities in the caste system of the western Sudan in opposition to the Senegambian and west Atlantic coast as well as the other inland and coastal life zones of the region, might indicate the conjunction of several factors in the genesis of caste organization in the area. For that matter, the different status of riverine and maritime fishermen, in societies organized along caste lines (Senegambia, in particular), might point at the historical conditions of maritime fishing development (later emergence in times of rapid social evolution) as well as the nature of ocean environment which nowhere on the coast seems to have been the object of communal or individual appropriation at the difference of inland waterways. The basic model of production in precolonial societies is not made totally clear by historical accounts, but must have based upon the extended family household as a unit of production-consumption in the framework of communal principles. The mode of production in the Niger 75 Delta, the Senegal River, the Benin lagoons, the Niger valley and the ”sequelles” of such a system in modern maritime fishing points toward such an interpretation. Maritime and riverine production were above the subsistence level. A sizable surplus had to be created in _order for fishery products, salt and other commodities to be exchanged through existing commercial networks. The dominant form of exchange was barter trade, despite the appearance of general equivalence measures such as cowries in the trade networks of the time. All across the region, the state was a constitutive part of the mode of production. In each social formation, it confiscated a part of the surplus produced by tributary fishing communities, in the form of taxes, duties or customs. Part of the surplus was also invested in the acquisition of fishing equipment. Technological reality was never static among medieval fishermen as indicated by the wide range of gear and boats used and the constant adoptions of new techniques before and after European intervention in the area. Finally, it should be said that women are the great "forgotten" of history text books for, despite all present-day evidences of their central role in the processing and marketing of fishery products as well as in other social and economic functions, (farming, domestic production, etc.), their actual ”weight“ in all these dimensions of fishing communities in the Middle Ages is Vrarely'mentioned. The 19th centhry marks a turning point in the development of west African fishing communities. It is the time when the most dramatic modifications of the political map of the continent occurs in the wake of the European drive toward colonial take-over. Feur centuries of social and economic modifications had already paved the way for radical 76 changes in the social fabric of west African societies and the fishermen within them. The spectacular development of the slave trade had sharpened the contradictions internal to those societies and had established contextual conditions redefining the place of fishing communities - be they raided victims or slave dealers. With the triumph of industrial capitalism in Enrope and the conquest of world markets at the beginning of the century, the impetus for a continuation of the slave trade dies off; the production of raw products designed to supply the apparatus of European industrialism is stimulated in a west African economy which had long lost control of its autonomous development. Palm-oil which was exported as early as the 18th century imposed itself as a substitute to the slave trade and was the major export of the Gulf of Guinea by 1850. In the Senegambia, the export of groundnuts taken precedence over other French commercial interests such as those related to the gum trade. Military steps are taken toward the annihiliation of the precolonial states of the region. All these developments had a profound impact on fishing. Until then, continental fishing had been the major source of fish production, while on the coast the trade functions assumed by maritime communities dominated fish production. The growth of cities and ports as major transit zones of the new euro-centered export complex came about in correlation with the rapid increase of their population and the growing demand for fish and fishery products as a byeproduct of these changes. The simultaneous availability of markets and abundant ocean-resources created conditions for a leap in maritime fishing activities and for udgratory movements toward .the new "poles“ of economic activity. In the Senegambia, the main trading ports (Saint Louis and Get-Ndar, 77 Dakar, Rufisque, Carabane, Albreda in Gambia) underwent a rapid swelling of their populations. Similar processes are noted on the 'Petite Cote' (Chauveau, 1982). In Benin, the construction of the wharf of Cotonou in 1891, is a primary reason for the first major udgration of Pla fishermen toward the littoral. There they served mainly as a cheap labor force in the docks along with ”Krumen" from Liberia, Ghana or Ivory Coast (Pliya, 1981). Somono fishermen came to fish and sell their catches to Saint Louis, Senegal and together with Bozo fishermen started going to the fisheries of Ivory Coast. An important Yoruba migration toward the Niger Delta is also noted (Sutinen et al., 1980). The new dynamic generated at the level of entire societies is not without an impact on the mode of production, which, while retaining basic features of its long precolonial history, was drawn into the colonial cash economy in the same way as farming. Progressively, the production of use values and their distribution in kind among producers, the exchange of the surplus product through barter-trade and its appropriation by non—producers through tribute, gives way to the monetization of all these functions and to the appearance of surplus value as the monetary form of the surplus product. IV; The Large- and small-scale Fisheries in The Context of Modern Maritime Fishing Developments 4.1 Industrial fishing developments through the 1970's west African countries came out of colonial rule in the early 1960's as structurally underdeveloped societies with relatively small industrial bases consisting mainly of import-substitution industries built in the Postdwar era. In spite of significant differences in local conditions, agricultural production, consisting mainly of cash crops for export, has been the major source of production seconded by mineral exploitation, in particular, of oil and phosphate. Recurrent agricultural and food crises, further amplified by ecological catastrophes such as the waves of drought that hit the western Sahel throughout the 1970's, pinpointed the necessity to rethink global development strategies and to more closely monitor the exploitation of available natural resources and, in particular, marine resources. The interest in marine resource development, however, predates these crises. various developmental schemes, characterized by a general bias in favor of European forms of industrial fishing, have been tried since the early days of colonial rule. In addition, foreign industrial fleets, which until the late 1970's were still dominating fish production off the west African coast, could be located in the area as early as the end of the 19th century. In 1880, two steamboats owned by the French company 'La Maree des Deux andes' and equipped with extensive freezing equipment were already' operating in west 78 79 Africa. In 1886, another French company, the 'Societe 1e Trident', based in Dakar-Senegal, was operating a freezer boat and a fish-freezing plant in the area. Both companies went bankrupt however, and despite other less-impressive attempts, the industry was for a long time, to remain dominated by indigenous canoe fishermen (Gruvel, 1908). Well before WWII, European interest in the coastal resources of the region, was kept alive by the growing mropean demand for fisheries products at a time when North Atlantic fishery resources began to become seriously depleted. Gruvel's mission to West Africa (1906-1908), meant to assess the profitability for French businesses of West African maritime resource exploitation, must be perceived in that context. Until WII, European vessels of diverse origins (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, British, Norwegian, etc.) trawled actively in the region's waters, with a particular focus on the resource-rich Mauritanian coast. Already, long-distance trawlers equipped with freezing facilities onboard, came to fish in the area without making calls in local parts. Smaller trawlers operated nearer to the coast and prawn fishing was also practiced (Conference de la Peche Maritime, 1948). As a whole, the portion of the coast along the 'Southern colonial territories' (Gulf of Guinea), was weakly exploited. In 1945, fifty years of overfishing had almost entirely depleted resources of the North Atlantic. In addition, during WNII, British and French colonies were cut off from their metropolitan centers, triggering, at the end of the war, a shift toward the establishment of import-substitution industries that could benefit from the availability in West Africa of a steady raw material supply and a cheap labor force. A number of fish processing plants were created by metropolitan 80 businesses and, with the gap that was thus created between the new treatment facilities and the level of fish production, conditions for the development of an aggressive, locally-based industrial fleet were created. As a whole, the French colonies of Senegal and Mauritania were the most advanced in that process and their industrial fleets were organically linked to French-owned local processing plants. In Senegal these plants processed mainly sardinellas and anchovies and were operating in the 'Petite Cote' before being relocated in larger industrial units in the Cape vert. An important shark industry was also prospering from the manufacture and the sale on the world market of natural vitamin A, shark oil and dried shark fins. This particular fishery disappeared around 1952-1953 with the development in the western world of synthetic vitamin A(van Chi, 1967b). The postdwar era was also the time when various fishery departments and research institutes were created in the European . colonies of‘west Africa. In 1948, a 'Maritime Fishing Conference', held in Dakar assessed the state of the sea resources of the region. Slowly, colonial and then 'national' industrial fleets started to develop in the various countries of the area. In the 'Gold Cbast', the fisheries department had its first full-time officer in 1945 and, that year, two motor fishing vessels were ordered from.Great Britain, marking 'the beginning of industrial fishing in Ghana'. It was not until 1953, however, that such a vessel was first owned and operated by a Ghanaian (Lawson, 1974). In Sierra Leone, the colonial government had, originally, to purchase and fit a 70 foot wooden ship in order to supply ice-chilled fresh fish to Freetown markets and also, to periodically use steam-powered naval ships for trawling the area. The 81 emphasis toward large-scale fishing schemes developed in ‘that country throughout the colonial period (Liensenmeyer, 1976). Nigeria established its trawler fleet in 1956, with only one registered vessel (Ladipo, 1973) while, along the Benin littoral, an average of one trawler remained in operation between 1955, when trawling operations began, and 1962. After independence, national industrial fleet development gained some momentum. By the late 1970, the ‘West African inshore industrial fleet (including Morocco) had grown to 1500 trawlers and purse seiners. Morocco excluded, Ghana, which had developed a fleet of eighteen distantdwater trawlers and thirty-three tuna vessels, had the largest industrial -fleet (Sutinen, et al., 1981). Senegal which now'has thirty-five tuna vessels, had developed between 1962 and 1976, the most ambitious long-distance fleet of the region which, then, included three transoceanic tuna boats and several freezer boats. Because of disastrous financial, managerial and technical choices, the whole operation ended upin the bankrupcy of the state corporation in charge of the enterprise (Domingo, 1982). The industrial fleet is reported to be also important in the Ivory Coast and in Nigeria. In that latter country, seventy distantdwater, factory-type trawlers were registered in 1968 (Ladipo, 1973). However, in spite of the growing involvement of nationals in industry fishing, one should remain aware of the fact that foreign businesses, under 'national' flags are still an important - and sometimes, dominant - component of 'national' fleets. Often 'national' vessels are, in reality, chartered vessels which have to be paid in foreign currency' when landing their catch in a west African country; this gives these nationallybbased companies the objective status of 82 import agents (Ladipo, 1973; Liensenmeyer, 1976; Lawson, 1974; Domingo, 1982). Another problem faced by nationally-owned vessels is, as in Senegal, their links to processing industries which rarely have their own export channels outside of the country. Therefore, national businesses are often forced into associating themselves with foreign dealers who, alone, control outside markets and the international terminii of the price chain (antana & Weber, 1983). Finally, and whatever their development, local industrial fleets have not yet matched the scale of the long-distance foreign fleet. This fleet dominates west African fisheries since the early 1960's with its operations concentrated in the area stretching from Mauritania .to Sierra Leone. In 1977, long-distance foreign vessels were making more than 70% of the value of all catches in the region. For the most part, . they were “large vessels (over 200 GRT) often shaving ‘fgeezing ,f facilities on board and capable of operating for long periods at sea. :' Some of the ships are accompanied by large (over 1,000 GRT) motherships which process, store and transport the fish catch” (Sutinen et al., 1981). By the mid- 1970's, the principle foreign nations operating in the region were the U.S.S.R., Japan, Spain, South Korea and other East and west European nations. Spain had the largest fleet in value terms (26% of the total catch value) while the U.S.S.R. dominated the region catch in weight with 37% of the total production. In 1978, however, the share of non-African production started to drop and went below'60 percent (Sutinen et al., 1981). This new trend has been attributed to the adoption of 200 miles EEZ's in the second half of the 1970's, coupled with the rising cost of distant-water operations. 83 Nevertheless, it is likely that long-distance foreign fleet operations will not disappear from the region for the times to come, several countries having established compensatory agreements with foreign companies in exchange for the right to fish in their EEZ's. '4.2 'The competition between large— and small-scale fisheries In the search for markets and manpower, as well as in two other fundamental areas - the allocation of scarce public financial resources and the exploitation of biologically-limited resources - artisanal fisheries are in competition with the large-scale industrial fleets which have just been described. It would not be fair to say that artisanal fishermen have been ignored by policyemakers in west Africa, insofar as resource allocation is concerned. Starting with colonial administrators concern with guaranteeing a steady supply of fish to colonial and indigenous populations, various schemes have been developed in order to increase the output of artisanal fishing operations. These 'development' or 'nodernization' schemes have essentially consisted in public loans and credit mechanisms for the purchase of outboard motors, mechanized vessels or fishing gear, often channeled to fishermen through freshly organized cooperative. In many cases, these initiatives failed because they profoundly misunderstood the internal structure of the canoe fishing industry. This was the case in particular of the 'Charter Party' scheme in Ghana (Lawson, 1974; Christensen, 1977), the cooperative experience in Benin (Pliya, 1981), the loan and credit project in Sierra Leone (Liensenmeyer, 1976) and the first generation 84 of Senegalese cooperatives. Some success was, however, obtained in Senegal and Ghana after an initial phase of 'try-and-miss' schemes (see Chapter VI). Though not ignored by policy makers, artisanal fisheries in west African countries have suffered from a general 'grand design' bias in favor of large-scale fishing. In Sierra Leone, Liensenmeyer (1976) reports that only 6.7% of public investments in fisheries were to go the small-scale industry during the period 1974-1979. Moreover, import duties for nets, motors and other small-scale fishing equipment were set at 36.5% of the purchase value, the same rate as the one applied to semi-luxury items. In contradistinction, 67% of public investments were scheduled for building a fleet of ten large trawlers, twenty purse seiners, four deep-sea trawlers and the facilities needed for operating this fleet. In addition, imported large-scale equipment items were taxed only at 10% of their purchase price. FUrthermore, Liensenmeyer points out that: ”Large scale firms have received development certificates which grant such concessions as extended tax holidays, exemptions from import duty on packaging material and fishing gear as well as reduced duty on trawlers, diesel fuel and lubricants.” In Senegal, the position of artisanal fisheries with regard to public expenditures has been better than in Sierra Leone, given that outboard motors have been sold tax-free to fishermen since 1966 (Domingo, 1982; weber, 1980). However, it is not until 1979 that artisanal fisheries share of the budget allocated to the whole fishery sector reached 32%. During the four four-years plans which followed independence in 1960, the bulk of public expenditures went to industrial fisheries which, in the 4th plan, were receiving 80% of the fishery budget (Domingo, 1982). The governments of Benin and Tbgo are, reportedly, reluctant to 85 substantially invest in industrial vessels, giving most of their attention to their small-scale lagoon fisheries (Sutinen et al., 1981). However, both the Ivory Coast and Ghana, are reported to follow the trend observed in Sierra Leone, and to a lesser degree in Senegal. The Ivory Coast, in the period 1976-1980, was planning to devote most of its $70 million investment in marine fisheries to distant-water fishing, tuna boats, port and cannery facilities, etc. . .(Sutinen et al., 1981). As for Ghana, "Government planning has been directed more at the development of large trawlers which utilize the harbor and cold storage facilities at Tema near Accra. For the small operator, more attention has been given to those wishing to invest in inboard trawlers 'than in traditional canoes." (Christensen, 1977).33 " competition for fishing grounds is a second major area where the 'iihterestS{' of artisanal fishermen sometimes clash wiwh those of industrial fleets34 Garcia, Boelly and Freon (Troadec & Garcia, 1979) have mentioned the competition between the artisanal and industrial sectors in lagoon and maritime shrimp fishing and in the exploitation of small coastal pelagics. The tight interaction among fisheries creates the possibility of one affecting the other through parental or 33 Lawson (Lawson - COPACE, 1980), suggests on the contrary, that in Ghana the canoe fleet has been given more attention than the industrial fleet. This appreciation however, seems not to take into account the considerable public support given to inboard trawlers - at the expense of the canoe fishery - through the State Fishing Corporation (SEC) and the 'Charter Party Scheme' described by Lawson herself (1967; Lawson & Kwei, 1974). 34 Such conflicts occur even in countries where artisanal and industrial fleets have delimited fishing zones. That is the case in Senegal and Nigeria where the inshore coastal area has been reserved to artisanal fisheries, respectively in 197.6 and 1972 (See Fontana & Weber, 1983; Ladipo, 1973). 86 juvenile catches and through the simultaneous exploitation by two or :nore flotillas which catches have similar demographic structures. The problem is further increased by the fact that long-distance foreign fleets do not land their captures in local ports. These fleets often take advantage of this opportunity and underestimate their catch reports in order to reduce their financial contribution to national economies. Maritime fishing being the exploitation of a common pool resource, this raises uncertainties about the actual level of stocks exploitation and makes it difficult, for instance, to assert which, of overfishing and purely biological phenomena, accounts for the reduction of artisanal fisheries catches in some areas. Finally, because of the lack of adequate enforcement, a great number of trawlers come' to operate in coastal zones reserved to artisanal fishermen, therefore, creating two negative effects; 1) A greater pressure on coastal stocks and available biomass. These trawlers use very small mesh size and discard 40% to 60% of their catches in the sea, as is increasingly the case in Senegal (Fontana & weber, 1983). 2) The destruction of artisanal fishing equipment (nets - in particular). In Senegal, such losses are estimated to average CPA 100 million per year35(Fontana & weber, 1983). 35 $1.00 0.5. is currently around CFA 400 and was CPA 250 in January, 1981. ’ 87 V. Systems of production and human dimension in the Artisanal Maritime Fisheries of west Africa “Every production is appropriation of nature by the individual in the framework and through the channel of a given form of society" K. Marx Social groupings and nature are related through the processes of adaptation, transformation and appropriation. Nature is socially appropriated by'a given mode of production characterized by the type of relation linking the producer to the means of production and to other producers and non-producers involved in the process of production. In the real world, modes of production do not exist in isolation; they are not only articulated to other modes of production, but are enclosed in concrete social formations incorporating several other material and non-material dimensions of social life. Therefore, the mode of fish production in West Africa must not be perceived as unidimensional and isolated from the general social organization of fishing communities articulating various productive and social strategies to the hunting of ocean animals. These strategies can be understood only, within an analytical frame that links sea-based activities to the land-based arrangements of fishing communities. The resulting Tbtality-referred to, here, as a 'system' of production — is therefore a multi—level organization characterized by specific, ranked and complementary goals. The general characteristics of fishing communities, their ethnic dimension, their patterns of economic specialization, division of labor and migration will be 'better understood within that framework and will lay the ground for the later study of the mode of production in artisanal fishing. 88 5.1 General characteristics gf the west African fishingrpopulation Statistics on the west African fishing population are hardly reliable and vary widely according to sources. Sutinen et al. (1981) evaluate the number of artisanal fisheries in the region at 600,000 men, operating 105,000 dug-out canoes, while Lawson's estimate for the region's canoe fleet is only 35,510 canoes (Lawson - CECAF, 1980). The discrepancies in available data on the artisanal fisheries are partly due to the -different quality of national fishery departments and research institutes statistics and to the shortcomings of regional coordination at the CECAF level. Some countries include lagoon fishing in their statistics on the maritime economy (Ivory Coast) while others classify it with other forms of continental fishing (Benin). While 70,000 canoes are estimated for Nigeria by Sutinen et al. (op. cit.), estimates provided by Lawson and excluding transport vessels, are just 9000 (Lawson - CECAF, 1980). In both cases, it is not said whether fishing vessels operating inland, in the Niger Delta are included. As for Senegal, the first source overestimates the fishing population (put at 46,000) and the canoe fleet (6,442) while the latter underestimates the size of the canoe fleet (put at 3500). CRODT's statistics, obtained from the last census of the fishing population in 1982, give 27,000 as the number of fishermen in Senegal, operating 4,350 canoes (Fontana & weber, 1982). Whatever their deficiencies, available statistics per country provide some information on the relative importance of fishing in the region (See table 1). Artisanal fishing accounts for more than half of 88a amaa .csaflaa mead .Lozoeconcoaqc 2..-42.3.2.3 £3 $695+ owma .mo Aamaa ..am am cacauam :av meme .uaota>ma .mea .Ho um cocaosm. "mooszom use I macaaeom m.cm aoao.a .ooo.m~» Acme» madame: mama nose Homeosmv echoes 83m . . I . ac .azm I aaaaau . . mom I acaaaoaeH m we .ooc .ooo a owes aaaamaawaz me acom.m .ooo.oo~ I ooo.oc acaco Acospocmuu macaw .ozm m.mm II coommm wcuosaocav unmoo >eo>H I acmutooEH ooo.m~ I ooc.>~ .mficam I aaoae ac mom . . vocab I ammo . . . ca accoeoasu m mm coco m coco ma ocooq owaoum II m.mm II .ooo.= accuse omoacwocom . II . II I I ucooauacmum : as sommum mosqsc cccamcmcc I osom .omoammocom II .ooc.m a manage I uooae go now cm I cm I oceananH aaaamaemaz a.ec +omm.a +ooo.s~ Hawacam decade on mauucwooo .oaaaamocom omm mm .maa a .omc a ascaaataaz Adv oousoueucoo cossozouu mwcuocca no pooau coup hsoczoo accem«EI:« ammucoosoo mocco Immsooo wcuzmau ho ucwuoz apneaxosoo< no ouum oeduqecs go when nouaucsoo coounu< poo: :« weacmam msuuuhmt Hmcmmauh< .H mqm<9 89 the fish landed in west Africa and makes up 70% of the landings in a country such as Senegal. There are also differences in the size of the canoe operations among west African coastal nations and these differences can be related to ecological determinants and the type of social choices developed by littoral societies. For example, the persistent weight of lagoon fishing in the Gulf of Guinea confirms the lessons drawn from its precolonial history. Today, as yesterday, historical conditions associated with the poor geographical and biological characteristics of the Gulf of Guinea, contribute into making the lagoon complex, a predilected eco-niche for various fishing folk. Even in Nigeria, which has the largest fishing population of the region, most of the fishermen operate in the brackish waters of the Niger Delta rather than on sea. In 1973, more than 5000 villages were scattered among the swampy shores of the lagoons, creeks and estuarine networks while only 250 could be found on the beaches along the Atlantic Ocean (Ladipo, 1973). In the South west of Benin, a similar situation could be found in the early 70's when 4,000 marine fishermen were thought to be dwelling on the littoral, as opposed to 10,000 fishenmen around Lake Aheme. According to a 1978 source, the number of marine fishermen could have even dropped to 1,887 people (Pliya, 1981). Strikingly, artisanal maritime fishing is also relatively underdeveloped in Mauritania despite the existence, off the Mauritanian coast, of the richest maritime environment of the region studied. Mauritanian fishermen have remained only few'and have undertaken only minor developments of their fishing techniques. The fishing techniques of Azenegue fishenmen were much less developed than those of their 90 neighbors to the South during the precolonial period. It must also be pointed out that Mauritania, for the same ecological factors explaining the richness of its coasts (see Chapter II), is a largely desert area where nomadic patterns of social organization have generally dominated sedentary forms of living of the type developed by fishing communities. In general, the most aggressiVe maritime fishermen in west Africa, have been those who, since precolonial times, have particularly strived to invest their human resources into ocean exploitation. Outstanding examples are the fishermen of Ghana and Senegal who have largely been engaged in long distance migrations and who played, and are still playing, a major role in the diffusion of fishing techniques and the development of artisanal fishing along the entire littoral. Ethnicity is an important dimension of artisanal fishing in west Africa and to some extent, national characteristics such as Ghanaian, Senegalese, Sierra-Leonian or Nigerian fishermen constitute an abstraction. In each of these countries, various ethnic groups such as the Ewe, Nyominka, Temne, or the Ibibio do not have the same history and the same level of involvement in fishing, nor do they exhibit the same patterns of adaptation to the challenge of their environment. Table 2 lists the main fishing groups in west Africa according to national and ethnic origin and summarizes their main occupational characteristics. ' Ethnic groups involved in fishing are numerous and their degree of occupational involvement in the activity varies widely, as it 'will be 90a muz. MOI “BTW name WI! com 0! ORIGIN, ETHNICITY AND OCCUPATION f Ibibio (Auden-15m) fauna? ' Ethnic Origin Hsin Occupstionsl Chsrsctsristics Eusnritsnis Inssgnsn Fishing Senegal Lebu Fishing-Farting lye-inks Fishing-Fsrning-Csttls Isising Uolof (Goudsr) Fishing Diola, Serer, Sosa, 8 others Fusing-Fishing an 9010: . so... 0 s film-PI“ Guinss Bisssu Bsyots, Handjsck, Pspsl, Dido Fusing-Fishing Guinss Snsu Fishing-Flsntstion (Coconut, Oil Ps1.) hsgs Fishingvrsrning Sierra Loans Ts-ns Fishing-Sons Fsrsing Shsrhro Fishing-Sons Farming ! Susu. bonds... Farming-Fishing Liberis In: t Fishing lssss 5 Fishing-Bunting 5 Gathering of , ' Forest Products Ivory Coast I Era . Fishing ° ! Allsdisn : Fishing-Flsntstion Guns 9 ants ; Fishing ; In 3 Fishing . é Cs 2 Fishing-Porting Togo . I Gs, Gen ; Fishing-Fsrning Benin ' Psdsh ; Fishing (Lsgoon Mainly) ; Fls = Fishing ;_ En. m. s s FWW‘HIW Nigeria f Ijuu Fishing-Parsing . Yoruba ‘ Fishing-Fusing Fishing-Funding 91 seen later. In all countries, maritime fishing is dominated by one to three groups which make up most of the labor force in the sector. Sometimes, as in Gambia, Liberia or Ivory Coast, these groups are in-migrant groups coming from other West African countries (see table 1). It should be kept in mind however, that the ethnic map in west African fishing is highly, and increasingly, heterogeneous and that the traditional hegemony of a few groups over artisanal maritime fishing is eroding progressively. In a significant number of countries, people from a variety of ethnic background are increasingly moving to the coast to work as migrant laborers in fishing units. This is the case, in Senegal, of Serer and Wblof groups of the hinterland as well as Bambara, Tuklulor: and Fulani- migrants. In addition, fishing is increasingly taken-on“ in some Diola areas of the lower Casamance. In Benin, next to the major groups of Pla, Ewe and Pedah fishermen, there is a wide array of fishermen coming from groups traditionally less oriented toward the sea, such as Fan and Mina groups. Finally, ethnicity among west African fishermen is two—dimensional. On one hand, ethnicity transcends occupational specialization (not all Fante or Lebu communities are commmities of fishermen), on the other, specialization translates the ethnic concept in its own terms and provides for new meanings and new realities. In the Lebu areas of the 'Grande' and 'Petite Cote' in Senegal for example, 'Lebu' is becoming the generic term for all fishermen permanently established in those areas, whatever their true ethnic origin (van Chi, 1967a; Chauveau, 1983a). This is not without reminding the earlier processes of ethnic fusion during west African precolonial history. Groups such as the Somono were real ethnic 'melting pots', taking their substance only 92 from the commonality of their occupational specialization. Throughout the Gulf of Guinea, the first lagoon dwellers were literally 'phagocitized' by Akan, Ijo and other conquering people coming to settle on the lagoons. All evidence indicates that those processes of fusion, and also of fission, were not limited to fisherfolk, as it can be seen in the fact that different totemic names (which can be traced back to different clan origins) are found today both within and across the boundaries of ethnic groupings at large (Diop, 1954). All of these examples show that ethnicity in fishing can neither be taken for granted, nor can it be written-off as an 'imaginaire' which, ex-nihilo, came out of colonialism (verdeaux, 1981). The ethnic fabric of fishing societies is not only complex, it is also dynamic. On one hand, ethnicity, which is present in the 'vecu' of those societies, their self-imagerie and their identity concepts, mediates their socio-economic action upon their environment; on the other hand, it is constantly being transformed by the general motion of larger social and economic formations and does not suffice to explain the dynamics at work in fishing communities. 5.3 Sjecialization 213d Complementary i2 Maritime fishigg communities The degree of community involvement in fishing lS‘Wlde ranging in Icoastal West Africa and a few'typologies have been designed to describe t:lhe amount of group involvement in the activity. Among those, the C'iistinction between 'part-time' and 'full-time' fishermen is by far the ' mhost common. These two concepts, however, fail to make the distinction 93 between the relative amount 2f time spent in fishing and the relative' importance gf fishing vis g vis other subsistence strategies. By making the distinction between 'dominant' and 'co-dominant' fishing societies, Pollnac (1976), clearly, takes as a point of departure the importance of fishing relative to other activities. In a 'dominant' fishing community, fishing is the major subsistence strategy, whereas, in a 'co-dominant' community, fishing shares in importance with some other subsistence strategy. In this case, however, a few occupational situations in fishing are not described by the two alternatives offered. In contradistinction, the typology used by Pliya (1981) to describe Benin fishermen, goes into a great deal of refinement. Pliya's classificatory scheme identifies five types of fishermen: 1) Exclusive lagoon or river fishermen (continental fishing only); . 2) Exclusive maritime fishermen (sea fishing only); 3) Mixed fishermen (combine continental with maritime fishing and, occasionally, farming); 4) Fishermen-agriculturalists (fishing is co-dominant with farming); . 5) Agriculturalists-occasional fishermen (farming is occasionally complemented by fishing). Both Pliya's and Pollnac's classifications have a number of strong points and, insofar as maritime fishing is concerned, the following distinction will be based upon a synthesis of the two typologies and will distinguish among three types of fishermen: Type 1: 'Exclusive' or 'dominant' fishermen - Maritime fishing is the exclusive area of primary production. Other activities when they exist are dominated by and area function of fishing. Type 2: 'Co—dominant' fishermen - Maritime fishing and another activity (such as farming for example) constitute two poles of the community's economic life. 94 Type 3: 'Occasional' fishermen - Fishing is a secondary activity dominated by some other productive activity. Despite the scarcity of detailed information on most of the fishing groups of the region, available evidence suggest that the largest majority belongs to type 2. This indicates the importance of subsistence strategies, such as farming, palm-oil production, cattle raising in the economic life of artisanal fishermen. This fact is further reinforced by the existence of some groups of occovnfiional fishermen (type 3) whose main occupations are land-based. Among those, groups such as the Diola of Southern Senegal and Guinea-Bissau are famous for their farming skills, particularly in rice production. On the Senegalese littoral, Serer groups of the hinterland also participate in fishing despite their well documented preference fer agriculture and in Benin some villages of agriculturalists are occasionally involved in fish production (Pliya, 1981). Co-dominant fishing communities (type 2) have been spotted in almost every single country in west Africa. In Guinea, Baga fishermen are also farmers while Susu fishermen depend on coconut and palm-oil for a significant portion of their income (Sutinen et al., 1981). Dependency on forest products as a complement to fishing is also found among the Bassa of Liberia (Sutinen et al., 1981) and in the Benin villages of fishermen-agriculturalist practicing also evegetable growing, salt making, poultry, small livestock breeding and trading (Pliya, 1981). Salt making, trading and farming are also found among Ijaw, Yoruba and Ibibio fishermen of Nigeria, whenever possible under the conditions of the mangrove swamps. In Sierra Leone, outside the major fishing areas, fishermen engage seasonally in farming and petty 95 trading. According to Liensenmeyer (1976), commercial production of vegetables and swamp rice in the Bullom Peninsula and subsistence agriculture in most other areas constitute major alternatives to. fishing in that country. Among Nyominka fishermen in Senegal, fishing and agriculture have been for centuries, the two central means of subsistence supplemented eventually by cattle raising. The pursuits of these diverse goals have also been at the basis of complex migrations within the limits of the Nyominka Islands as well as beyond the island's boundaries. Along most of the Senegalese littoral, among the Lebu and Serer sedentary fishermen of the 'Petite Cbte' as well as among Lebu villages of the 'Grande Cbte', fishing is articulated to the cultivation of cash and food crops and to vegetable growing. The importance of this dual, and sometimes, multidimensional involvement of littoral communities into various productive activities must be kept in mind when dealing with these communities. On most of the west African coast, environmental conditions set a natural complementarity between fishing and agriculture given the seasonal character of both activities and their opposition, as a result of hydro-climatological phenomena (see Chapter 11). Even in cases where farming and fishing seasons do overlap, as it will be seen later, the productive strategies developed by fisherfolk bear the imprint of their specific environmental conditions associated with social and economic constraints. Typically, one major response to this 'set of constraints', has been for fisherfolk to distribute their social and economic investments among- different alternatives in order to maximize the benefits subtracted from the resources available to them. The second major response to environmental and socio-economic conditions in coastal west Africa has been the exclusive specialization 96 of some communities in fishing. Type 1 fishermen are found in almost all the countries where fishing has taken some proportion. Among the most visible of those, are Fante and Dwe fishermen from Ghana. Although the Fante and the Ewe are large ethnic groupings including a very important proportion of non-fishermen, the actual demographic and sociological 'rapport' between fishermen and non-fishermen is rarely mentioned in the literature. It is known that however, in the low-lying coastal area extending from Southern Ghana to Lome (the capital of Togo), fishing is the most important single occupation for Anlo-Ewe men. Estimates for two Ghanaian areas surveyed by Hill (1970) put the proportion of fishermen at 31% to 37% of the total population. In.Idome villages, farming is practiced by a very small number of families, while a village much as Muniano, described by”Wyllie (1969), appear as ”a one industry village whose entire existence rests upon the activities of its. . .beach seine fishing companies“. Christensen (1977, 1982) mentions that Fante towns and villages ”usually contain farmers as well as fishermen' and that their fishing segments “tend to cluster in the older and poorer housing near the beach” Quinn (1971), in a sample of 74 households from the Fante town of Biriwa, found that more than 88% of the men were 'full-time' fishermen while only 12% had other occupations such as farming, carpentry or lorry driving. In the mostly Fante town of Cape Coast, 20% of the population was made up of fishermen. . On the coast of Benin, Ewe (Keta) and Pla fishermen make up the core of villages involved exclusively in fish production. Sometimes, these villages are also populated by Fon and Mina elements. A similar :I Is y) 97 role is played by Fante fishermen in Liberia and in Sierra Leone.35 In Ivory Coast, maritime fishing is dominated by large settlements of Fante and Ewe fishermen whose spread into several West African countries appears to be a logical consequence of their dominant specialization in fishing. Among Sierra Leonean .fishermen today, 'full-time' fishing is reported to be the rule in all the major fishing areas of the country (Liensenmeyer, 1976). In Senegal, only one group, the wolof fishermen from Get-Ndar in the Northern Senegalese city of Saint Louis, is involved in fishing at the exclusion of other areas of primary production. Representing 28% of the Senegalese fishing population, Get-Ndar fishermen are the most numerous and, perhaps, the most dynamic fishing group of the Senegambia. They are also largely involved in medium and long-range migrations. Factors leading to the specialization of fishing communities in one or several productive activities have not been the object of much discussion among marine scientists. However, Breton's (1973) work in Eastern venezuela gives some insight into the matter and points at several factors among which the most important are the natural resources available to those communities and men's utilization and alteration of those resources. In west Africa, patterns of economic specialization in fishing communities are also explained, to a large extent, by the characteristics of the land and sea resources available to those communities. However, while in Eastern venezuela, communities Which present a higher degree of specialization in fishing are those —‘ 3 6 In 1977, Fante fishermen were expelled from Sierra Leone in retaliation for a similar move of Ghanaian authorities against Sierra Leone nationals in that country. 98 which possess better ecological conditions in addition to other favorable historical situations (Breton, 1973:309), the situation in west Africa appears as somewhat different. Strikingly, communities benefitting from the most favorable ecological and oceanographic conditions in the region have tended to diversify their field of activity, while the most active groups of exclusive fishermen have been characterized by poorer ecological conditions at home. This fact does not disqualify' resource characteristics as a relevant explanatory variable for specialization; rather, it suggests that maritime and land resources articulate differently according to their specifities. FUrthermore, it suggests that the exploitation of these resources is mediated by historical, economic and social constraints which assign a place to each activity (fishing vs. agriculture as well as different produces within each field) in the economic life of each fishing community. In short, it is not individual variables, but what is called in this thesis the 'set of constraints and determinants' that determines specialization. In the actual intermix of its constitutive variables, some have more weight than others and can be identified only through concrete investigation. A few examples drawn primarily from the Senegalese situation will serve to illustrate the point. Nyominka fishermen of the Saloum Islands, Lebu and Serer fishermen of the 'Petite Cbte' and Lebu fishermen from the village of Kayar, in Senegal, are all co-dominant communities of fishermen. However, their geographic and ecological conditions, their conditions of insertion into the Senegalese market economic and ,their historical evolution differ in a number of ways. The village of Kayar on the 'Grande Cote', located next to a deep and rich marine depression, receives abundant 99 stocks of demersal and pelagic-species but only during the regular fishing season (January to MaynJune). In contradistinction, the Nyominka Islands, located at the mouth of the Saloum River considered in reality as an arm of the sea, benefit from their best estuarine conditions between May and November. That period, during which fishery resources are the most abundant, includes the whole farming season (June-September) (van Chi, 1977). Oceanic conditions off of the 'Petite Cote' are even more peculiar than around the Saloum Islands. The 'Petite Cote' is the locus of the most fertile oceanic conditions of the Senegalese littoral and at the difference of most other areas, upwellings in that region take place throughout the year, under the influence of the equatorial counter-current. -As a result of its high biological productivity, fishing in the 'Petite Cote' can be practiced all-year round, during all seasons. In all the three areas mentioned, favorable conditions agriculture on land, add to the availability of marine resources. Originally both fishing and farming in those areas were predominantly geared toward household consumption and the whole economy was guided by principles of self-sufficiency. The 'Petite Cbte', among all three, was the first to be drawn into the cash capitalist economy and despite the permanent fertility of its water, groundnut production for cash became the major alternative to fishing and a primary motive for stopping fishing activities during the farming season. Groundnut production took also precedence over food crops such as millet, and, even as fish production was being fully inserted into the senegalese market economy, retained a major' place in the economic calcnalus of the fishermen-agriculturalists of the 'Petite Cote'. 100 In Kayar, where the land area around the village has always been favorable to vegetable growing, familial households used, in the past, to produce cassava, sweet potatoes, maize, millet, and some groundnut in addition to the daily fish requirements. Only excess production was traded and only at the local level (van Chi, 1967a). vegetable growing being practiced, at the difference of groundnut and millet, during the dry season, at the same time as ‘fishing, the two activities were coordinated within the family division of labor by age and by sex. The building of a road opening the village to outside markets in the early 1950's, was the basis of fundamental changes in the local economy; The newrmarketing opportunities provoked, a dramatic influx of seasonal migrant fishermen, traders and other workers while production for markets and profit started to take precedence over household priorities; "l'ancienne economie de subsistance est morte', says van Chi (1967a). The village kept the two pillars of its economy, vegetable growing and fishing, but these latter no longer enjoyed the complementarity of the past; rather they had become increasingly competitive. The terms of trade in the cash economy being more favorable to vegetable production, the tendency among Kayar families, particularly those benefitting from the richest agricultural land, became to put most of their resources on vegetable growing at the expense of fishing (van Chi, 1967a). Among Nyominka ~fishermen, rice cultivation has. stood as the central, natural complement of fish in the fulfillment of the subsistence needs of the community. In a number of villages, millet, vegetables, peanuts and cotton are cultivated and coconut and palm-oil regularly harvested. Cattle raising and ferrying also constitute 101 important aspects of the economy. Along with food crops, a small portion of groundnut is transformed and consumed within the commmity. However, the fundamental function of groundnut, as well as cotton and plantation products, has been to provide the cash necessary for obtaining products available only on the market (sugar, coffee, cloth, medication, peanut oil). Because fresh water is scarce in the Nyominka Islands which are also relatively isolated from the continental economy, Nyominka fishermen have, early on, developed long-distance migrations beyond their insulary boundaries in order to get needed water supplies and to exchange their products against other conmodities. Originally, fish was used within the framework of these migrations as a means to get needed produce, such as millet for certain villages, mostly through barter-trade. Today, fish has essentially become a commodity serving a purpose similar to that of pear-mt and COttOfl o In addition to long-distance migrations, Nyominka fishermen have also developed "complex agricultural, fishing and, eventually, cattle raisin-g migrations within the limits of islands' region” (Van Chi, 1977) , in order to take full advantage of the land area available to them. Each mother-village has, therefore, its satellites campenents where most of the farming is done during the Senegalese rainy season. At the difference of Kayar and the 'Petite Cote', fishing never really stops in the islands. First, men usually fish even during farming days in order to meet the daily fish requirements of the working group. Secondly, Nyominka migrants, who are required to come back to the islands in order to participate in the field work, do not, in reality, farm during the whole farming season. They participate only in the [M7 102 planting (for about a week) and three to four months later in the harvesting (about two weeks). Between the two periods, no work is done on the rice fields. The subsequent loss in agricultural productivity is largely compensated by two facts: 1)' the high'yield obtained through rainy season fishing in the inlands; 2) the exceptional presence of. fishmongers coming into the area despite various access problems, because of the general reduction of fishing activities, on other parts of the littoral during the farming season. It can be thus seen, across different fishing commities, how the actual co—dominance of fishing and agriculture can take different forms ..._.—.L.-— —._-——— V ' and result in local differences in emphasis and priorities. It is found that general environmental and ecological conditions are largely responsible for _th_e_ gm of activities taken on, by fishing commities. However, 93 _d_e_g_rge 2f involvement in different activities, depends on the actual combination of various constraints and determinations. Despite the sharp difference in their oceanic conditions, the fishermen of Kayar and the 'Petite Cote' observe largely the seasonal alternance between fishing and farming and, in Kayar, the tendency has been toward the emphasis of agricultural production. In contrast, Nyominka fishermen have, in practice, given priority to fishing and have developed long and short range migrations within which fishing occupies a central place. One of the most significant factors explaining the preceeding differences is the substitution of a logic of self-sufficiency and complementarity among activities by a rationale of profitability and increased competition among those activities. The new social and economic calculus created by market penetration does not eradicate the complementarity of activities but changes the terms of \ J I ii 103 their articulation. A function of concrete local and contextual conditions, these terms are dictated by the degree of market penetration (Nyominka insularity vs. Kayar openness with the road) as well as the type of resource available, their seasonality and their profitability. With new constraints, new arrangements are made, within which farming and fishing are given new strategic functions. The exclusive specialization of Get-Ndar fishermen in fishing appears as a product of the particular historical evolution of the same factors (environmental conditions and socio-economic constraints) which, elsewhere, have led to the co-dominance of fishing and agriculture among Nyominka, Lebu and Serer fishermen. As it appeared in the study of its precolonial history, the expansion of Get-Ndar as a major fishing center was related to the development of the city of Saint Louis as a major trading port in the 19th century and to the growth of an important market for fiShery products, linked to. the demographic swelling of the city. Nevertheless, Get-Ndar fishermen were still complementing fishing with rice, millet and watermelon cultivation after WWII (Chauveau, 1981). Fishing, therefore, was not, from the start, an exclusive choice of the community. To the contrary, available evidence suggest that the decline of agriculture as a complement to fishing was progressive and was the combined result of the depletion of arable land in the area associated with the high profitability of fish production and marketing. Despite its location at the mouth of the Senegal River, Get-Ndar benefits from less Productive fishing grounds than off the Nyominka Islands, the Petite Cote and Kayar. In addition, fishing on the coast of Saint Louis has Proved to be particularly dangerous because of the bar (Van Chi, 1967a) 104 and a highly seasonal fish stocks availability. As a response to this overall set of constraints, Get-Ndar fishermen have largely developed and sophisticated their patterns of migration and have, even more than the Nyominka, developed long—distance maritime fishing campaigns and less extensive, short range campaigns on the Senegal River between September and November (Sene, 1982). Because of the historical conditions of its occurence, exclusive specialization - as much as co-dominant specialization for that matter - must not be taken for granted forever. The existence, in the fishing villages south of Saint Louis, of vegetable growing and coconut exploitation and the presence of fishermen at the head of agricultural farms in that area (Chauveau, lSBl) show, in that line of reasoning, that occupational specialization ' .is not irreversible.ii The whole case of dominant fishing in Senegal 'come therefore as: another illustration of the general lessons drawn from the comparison-of co-dominant fishing communities. 5.4 The Social Division 9; Labor 19 Fishing Communities Many studies of fishing communities do not pay sufficient attention to their non-fishing elements - the women, the younger and the elder - despite the role played by these groups in the fulfillment . of vital economic and social functions. In west Africa, basic patterns of division of labor by sex and by age appear everywhere, with only minor variances. The first commonality, shared by most coastal c'Ol'flmunities around the world, is that while males do the fishing, women are: specialized in the land-based segments of the industry, 105 particularly in the processing and the marketing of fishing products. By assuming these two tasks, women play a pivotal role without which productive activities could not go above the subsistence level, that is, the limited catch of the daily fresh fish requirements of the household. However, women do not have an exclusive monopoly in those areas and are increasingly faced with the competition of male market-brokers, as it will be shown later. women have also a significant weight in the agricultural activities of their community, helping to free the portion of the male labor force needed for fishing activities. In the Nyominka Islands, women not only participate in the collective work done in the satellite campenents but are the only ones involved in rice cultivation in mother-villages. In addition, they extract and sell palm-oil and have, in some villages, their own cotton fields. This is true of most co-dominant groups and even of some dominant communities where conditions exist for some farming. In Benin for instance, the wives and children of exclusive maritime fishermen are periodically involved in the harvest of coconut fruits. The often-neglected area of domestic organization is also crucial and bears important economic and social implications, as female work liberates men from practically all domestic tasks including meal preparation and children's education. Finally, it should be said that, in some instance, women do anticipate in fishing itself. This last activity however is limited to ponds, shallow'waters or to the beach. In Benin, Women reportedly participate in the pulling ashore of beach seines azliya, 1981); among the Nyominka, they _. along with children - Practice trap-basket fishing, a passive technique used in the waters nearby mother—villages. In the Sierra Leone Peninsula, women in the 106 19th century had their own fishing gear, a scoop-net about 11 feet long and circular in shape which had to be worked in shallow‘waters by two women on either side of the opening. women also used indigenous forms of fish traps and were also using toxic plants to stun and capture fish (Hendrix, 1982). It is not clear whether these methods altogether disappeared or whether some forms are still used by Temne, Sherbro or Mende women. Several factors account for the sexual division of labor characterizing maritime communities and are mentioned in the literature. The particular polarization of sex roles with regard to the organization of fishing contrast with that of agricultural and industrial groups and leads naturally to an investigation of the nature of sea fishing for an explanation. The danger and 'high risk factor' (Smith, 1977; Pollnac, 1976) associated with the extent of removal from land-based society (Pollnac, 1976) inherent to the activity, play undoubtedly a fundamental role in such a polarization. In a context where childcare requirements are borne by women, the domestic organization of the household has therefore provided the model around which land and sea-borne activities have been attributed on the basis of gender (verdeaux, 1981). The processing of fishery products became assimilated to woman's work (cooking) while women were simultaneously taking charge of trading functions, that could not be efficiently undertaken by fishermen. Finally, given the limitations in the rise of household labor, women and non-fishing elements have been (assigned to a number of farming and gathering tasks, as a way to reduce competition in the exploitation of available resources (Chauveau, 1981). Today, the extension of artisanal fishing as primarily, an 107 exchange economy, is affecting the traditional position of women in the communal division of labor. Increasingly, their monopoly over certain activities is being challenged by powerful middlemen and middlewomen who are often outsiders with regard to the community.' The nature of the marine environment and the constraints set by the characteristics of the labor ferce in fishing communities have also been instrumental in the social division of labor by age. In west Africa, the widespread system of age classes characterizing most societies, have been a major vehicle for regulating such a division of labor. Sometimes, this system has taken the form of organized work groups, as among Lebu and Nyominka fishermen. As a whole, it has stimulated the specialization of the different strata of producers in different activities. Though subject to some variation, the basic model has been the following: - -The youngest (teen agers) start their productive activities by farming (sometimes with women) and/or by working occasionally as apprentice in a crew. -Men (aged 18 to 40) form the bulk of the labor force engaged in fishing. In co-dominant societies, they also engage seasonally in farming. -Past 40, fishermen start thinking of retiring. This happens generally after they turn 45. The general trend , is to go back to agriculture after having handed over \ previous fishing equipment to a son or a younger \ brother. The link to fishing however is rarely broken; \ often, these retired fishermen remain the formal owners ~ of the means of production and play some role in the management and spiritual organization of fishing units. This is particularly true of 'dominant' fishing communities, where elders often lack the alternative offered by farming. It appears, therefore, that fishermen are generally young in west Africa. In Senegal for instance, the age mean of the active fishing population is estimated to be under 30 (Lawson - CECAF, 1986). A. monographic study of a beach seine of the 'Grande Cbte' in 1980, revealed that about 86 percent of the 39-man crew'was between 16 and 30 years old while only 12 percent of the crew was found to be older than 108 45 (Diaw, 1981). An earlier study, based on a sample of 132 fishermen of the 'Petite Cote' fbund the same age structure and the same percentage (10%) of aged (45-69) fishermen (van Chi, 1967b). These general facts were also true for Kayar where, despite a mainly young out-migration, most fishermen were 2n and 40 years old (van Chi, 1967a). In 1967 - Ghana, 'young' fishermen (15-34) constituted 63% of the fishing labor force of the town of Biriwa. If one includes younger apprentices, fishermen below 35 years of age represented 79.7% of Biriwa crews. By contrast, adults aged 35 to 54 represented only 18.5% of crews and fishermen over 54, only 1.8% (Quinn, 1971). Today, the increased mobility of the labor force .in artisanal fishing is modifying the age structure of the industry. The communities the most affected are those characterized by a high rate of youth out-migration causing the age mean in fish production to rise. Such a trend is reported in Senegal (Kayar), in Ivory Coast and in Ghana where the age mean is said to have risen above 45 and to be raising concerns about the very survival of the small—scale industry in the future (Lawson - CECAF, 1981; verdeaux, 1981; Van Chi, 1967). 5.5 Migration Trends in the Artisanal Fisheries o_f_ West Africa The study of migration movements in West Africa has neglected the specific nature of fishing migrations and bears the general land-based bias of social research in general. Such a study' therefore is ‘much needed. Two distinct types of migrations manifest themselves in the small-scale fisheries of the region; they can be respectively <flnaracterized as 'rdgrations of labor' (Amin, 1974) and as 'regulated fishing migrations! . 5.5.1. Regulated fishing migrations Regulated fishing migrations are absent from existing typologies describing migration movements. In his summary of those typologies, Aurselle (1976) distinguishes among 'ancient' migrations or movement of peoples, agricultural migrations, colonialization movements, rural/urban/rural migrations, state-directed or planned migrations and labor migrations. It is difficult to see how the most common forms of migration in maritime fishing fit in those categories. In a few cases, migrations of fishermen have been acknowledged. Amin (1974) identifies the mvements of Sorko fishermen along the Niger River and of Anlo-Ewe fishermen along the Atlantic coast as 'migrations of colonialization'. However, the progressive settlement of some fishing groups along their migration routes is yet to be distinguished from fishing migrations per se. Regulated fishing migrations are the primary form of migration movements in artisanal maritime fisheries. Correlated to the development of fishing commities primarily oriented toward maritime fishing in the precolonial and early colonial period, fishing migrations are basically determined by the 'technical necessity' to pursue highly migratory fish stocks and by the need to fulfill a number of economic necessities (salt and fish trade, transport, etc. . .) They have been organized within the line and internal dynamic of 'sending' commities and constitute a form of 'nomadism as an OCCUpational necessity' which cannot be ruled out of migration Phenomena as Amin (1974) has suggested. Being not only regular moves through space, they also determine definite 'changes in social 109 ¥ 110 conditions' (Amselle, 1976) as it can be seen in the 'whole reorganization of fishing units when in campaign and in a whole set of new arrangements (housing, food, legal and political regulations) made in receiving areas. There are few maritime communities in West Africa that do not engage in some form of migration, be it short, medium or long range. Long distance - or international - migrations are the most spectacular fbrm taken by these movements. However, important local and medium range migrations within the limits of national boundaries constitute significant component of the overall phenomenon. In the region, fishermen from Ghana, and Senegal have been the most involved in both forms of migrations and their movements are illustrated in figure n. While Ga fishermen do only limited migrations along the Ghanaian coast (Lawson & Kwei, 1974), Ewe fishermen, particularly those from the district of Keta in Eastern Ghana, go, westward, as far perhaps as Southern Guinea, according to Hill (197m). They go to Sierra Leone and Liberia and in 1964, eight Ewe seine companies were established in Freetown and seven in Monrovia. Northwest of Ghana, the largest Ewe -settlements are, however, found in the Ivory Coast where, in 1964, thirty-one Ewe fishing companies were recorded by De Shrgy (Hill, 1979). South-eastward, Ewe fishermen to to Tbgo and Benin where they have established settlements in which they intermix with Pla and other local fishermen. Great concentrations of Ewe fishermen are found as far South as Nigeria (Hill, 1970; Lawson, 1968; Lawson & Kwei, 1974; Rliya, 1981; Guilcher, 1959). In Benin that they reached in the 191-0's, the beach seine fishermen have been instrumental in the deVelopment of maritime fishing among Pla fishermen. Today these Pla 111 fishermen (”popoh") migrate as far as Conigo and, possibly, Angola where they play a similar innovative role (Pliya, 1981; Chaboud, 1982). Fante fishermen migrate from the Cape Coast area in Central Ghana up to Accra and Ada in the East. Their most important movements however are done in a Northwest direction, to the Sekondi area in western Ghana up to the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and even Southern Senegal and Gambia. Their role has been particularly important in the technical and socio-economic development of the fisheries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast. In the Tbmbo fisheries of Sierra Leone, the arrival of Fante fishermen in the 1950's is credited for "almost all the significant innovations that promoted Tombo into a viable commercial entity” and for having forced fishermen in that community to ”change their socio-economic organization in revolutionary ways” (Hendrix, 1983). They introduced in particular the Ali (or Adee) ring net used to catch pelagics such as the ethmalosa Bonga and herring, larger dug-out and plank-made canoes equipped with outboard motors and new corresponding patterns of crew' organization. Fante are also responsible for the introduction of a larger oven design - 'Bahda' - used for fish processing (Hendrix, 1983). deay, Fante fishermen who have been, since, expelled from Sierra Leone, dominate the fisheries of Ivory Coast, where they share in importance with Ewe fishermen, and the fisheries of Liberia where, however, they have not succeeded in influencing autochthonous Kru fishermen still attached to hand line fishing in small, two-men dug-outs (Christensen, 1982). In Senegal, many Lebu and Serere fishermen from the 'Grande' and 'Efietite Cote' do engage in some local migrations along with the two ”EiiJl migrant groups of fishermen from Get-Ndar and the Saloum Islands. 18 2: 3: .4: ‘5: 6:: 7: 8: 93 10. 11' 128 13: 1-: 168 C 17: A380 18. ‘v‘a‘iiba -‘ Figure 9 : L if ~~ \_° «C? 'V' Mauritania Senegal Gambia Guinea-Bissau Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Ivory Coast Ghana Togo Benin Nigeria Can 14- Equ eroon G batorial Guinea lea 112 International Fishing Migrations In West Africa (A summary) 32% Ewe Migrations Fante Migrations 'Popoh' (Pla) Migrations Get—Ndar Migrations Odhihtfin) .45515’. ua-d-O-‘HP -- ----HP 113 These migrations, within Senegalese waters, are significant. During the regular fishing season in April, 1981, 27% of the canoe fleet was in campaign along the Senegalese coast. In September of the same year during the farming season, the number of migrant units was cut by half but this, yet, represented 557 units still migrating on the littoral (Soceco - Pe'chart, 1982). In addition, these statistics do not take into account the significant number of Senegalese fishing units involved in international migrations to Mauritania (Get-Ndar fishermen), Gambia and Guinea-Bissau (Get-Ndar and Nyominka fishermen). Among Ghanaian fishermen, the extent of international migrations is much more limited among their Senegalese couterparts. These latter have nowhere made the kind of permanent settlements established in foreign countries by me and Fante fishermen and their movements cover a smaller range of countries. In the 1950's, Nyominka fishermen were going to Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and as far as Nigeria. However, these movements involved only a small number of individuals, were related principally to transport and trading activities, and have ceased today (Van Chi, 1977). The factors explaining migration patterns anong maritime fishermen, their extent and the differences found among the groups involved, are related to the same set of constraints and determinants that determines the differential specialization of fishing communities. In general, patterns of local and international migrations among West African fishermen have been largely function of their technical Preference (type of gear, targeted fisheries), the characteristics and variations of the marine eco-system (continental shelf's size, uP‘Mellings, salinity, fish migratory movements), as well as a nunber of 114 socio-economic conditions related to market conditions and their profitability and the possibility of savings at home or away from family (lineal) obligations. Fishing migrations are 'multiform and integrated', however, one important factor accounting for the different patterns of migrations (extensive vs. intensive) between Ghanaian and Senegalese fishermen, is found in the profound difference in their ecological and oceanic conditions at home. Senegambian waters benefit not. only from a higher biological productivity than the Gulf of Guinea (see Chapter I), but also from the seasonal complementarity of the two major fishing areas of that region. These two areas correspond to division of Senegambian waters into two distinct hydrological zones. South‘lof Cape Vert, in Casamance, GFilmbia and particularly on the 'Petite Cote' , the abundance of organic "fitters carried by the Casamance, Gambia and Saloum Rivers asSociated with the permanent upwellings taking place during the‘ year,-explain the ex'i'Ieptional fertility of the shelf. Dense pelagic Stocks of ‘sardinella and ethmlosa are found in the area even during the rainy season and e"(plain the higher frequency of nets (purse seine, gillnets, beach Seine, etc. . .) anong the gear used by migrant and local fishermen in the area. North of Cape Vert, the shelf is less productive than further South. The dry season, however, is the time when heavy up"fl'iellings take place along the littoral and when demersal and pelagic Species migrate toward the Northern shelf. In contradistinction to the col'lsiderable opportunity made available to Senegalese fishermen by the bi‘polarization of their fishery resources, the fishing season in Ghana is short and grossly the same for the whole coast. Ewe fishermen, famous for their specialization in the beach seine fishing of 115 horse-makerel-‘alfalfa' - have therefore tended to follow the species through its migratory route from Ghana (August to September), to Togo (October - November) and Benin (November - March) for instance (Pliya, 1981; Lawson, 1968). The. same is true of Fante fishermen who have done their long-distance migrations mainly in the search for pelagic species 37 In Ghana, the herring season of such as herring and bonga. 'sardinella aurita' coincides with. the slight upwellings taking place on the narrow continental shelf between June and September; for the rest of the year, catches are low and irregular despite fair catches of 'Sardinella cameronensis' in December and January (Lawson, 1974). Fishing migrations have a great impact on receiving areas, one of the most visible being the tremendous swelling, in spatial and human tenns, of fishing centers during the time of the migrations. In the senegalese village of Kayar, the population is four times larger during ' the fishing season, increasing from 2,009! to 8,090! inhabitants. In the Char\aian village of Otrokpe, such as seasonal growth reaches its most phenomenal proportions when, in April and May, the population of the vill-age is multiplied by thirty to forty and is increased from 2M to Srflfle—smow inhabitants (Lawson, 1974). This sudden influx of such a large number of people, cannot but have a number of socio-economic in<21<3ances on the receiving towns and villages. It necessitates a rapid mobilization of resources (food, housing, transport, etc. . .) 'and is necessarily correlated to the seasonal aggregation of various \ 3? Shark fishing which provides the raw product for the 'methora' (smoked shark) is also an activity of some Fante migrant units. In February, 1983, interaction was made with such a unit, based in Gambia but then, operating in in South Senegal. 116 social categories around fishing activities. In reality, in-migrants are not only fishermen; it is found among them a wide array of professionals - artisans, mechanics, carpenters, market-brokers, merchant traders, transporters - as well as an important unskilled labor force drawn into the area by the possibility to be employed in several subsidiary activities. The seasonal nature of such a Population explosion, implies also that after the end of the season, a vacuum is created by the departure of the people who had transformed the area into a rushing economic center. Adjustment of resident fishermen to the 'in' and 'out' phases of Migrations have not been reported as an insurmountable problem. In Spite of the potential conflicts over social as well as economic iSSues, few clashes have been recorded and interaction at sea is often a 900d one, better than interaction on land. A number of mechanisms rooted in the organization of receiving commmities help to regulate Social life and to diffuse tensions. In Y