Kpͻkεti and Fishing Business: The experience is enormous

 

Kpͻkεti is situated along the Abe Lagoon in Ivory Coast. It lies south from Abiati, and east is Bianu where there is the Bia River that merges with the Abe Lagoon. The Abe Lagoon has its end around εboε, another village in the area.

Kpͻkεti is now a fishing territory for many dwellers such as Nzema, Anyi, Fante, French and other African tribes. Fishing is the major business in the area for many decades. It is what supports the livelihood and other warfare of the people. The fishing business is done throughout the week except Tuesdays which is forbidden and a holiday for fishermen.

The Abe Lagoon in the night makes noise with its waves. The frogs in the swamps with their musical notes and stubborn babies are unheard in the night as they cry and disturb the sound sleep of parents. Aside those noise that are on a routine occurrence, the nights move on smoothly till the morning.

Egya Kofi and his fiancée, Mama Asͻ woke from sleep spontaneously as if they planned it so. They discussed one and two issues baffling the family and the business they did. The problem was about the poor fishing season they were encountering and how they could breakthrough. The important issues were addressed and started another conversation which they couldn’t finish before it was time for work. Egya Kofi left the room and went to wake his workers to get ready for work. But before then, some of the fishermen had already woke up and were at the river shore getting their canoes and outboard motors ready for work. They were going to collect the nets they casted yesterday.

In the village, fishermen and market women were the first people to wake up in the morning, therefore, they received the first blessing from heaven before others.

Before we continue, let’s take a little time and explore around fishing business. Fishing is a very lucrative business that earns one a living. It is a difficult business that needs special knowledge and skills to venture into it. It doesn’t mean that it is a work for only the elites, anyone can do it only if you have the ability. Most people who venture into fishing business are informal educators, the elites are few and now finds it essential to add modern science and technology to it to brand the traditional method of fishing.

The basic tools for fishing are canoe or boat, net, paddles or outboard motor, personnel and river, lagoon, lake or pond. Lazy people may suffer in this business because it is not meant for lazy people. It comes with challenges that could make you uncomfortable with the business. Beginners should be brave and learn the experience of the experts and would you would enjoy it for life.

There are some seasons in the business that favours and unfavour fishermen. Such seasons could be bad weather conditions or climate change where rivers becomes hot, killing the fishes, and toxic substances also affects harvesting. Indeed, they formed part of the secrets in fishing and understanding those conditions and terminologies equip you to become a good fisherman by dealing with them as they happen.

Fishing is an interesting business but you have to learn some basic things such as how to collect and cast net, sow and repair net, paddle canoe, drive outboard motor, swim river and withstand weather conditions, a sense of detecting where fishes are.

Most people do fishing on a small scale for domestic consumption. Small scale fish folks are hook and line, seine net, bamboo traps, raffia or cane traps, wire-nets among others. There are those also who do it on a large scale as business. Fishing in rivers have rules though not everyone may adhere to this rule but has consequences when caught. It is a traditional rule in some African communities not to go to fishing on Tuesdays, date and may differ as well. It is something for forbidden in both inland and coastal belts. It is a belief that such rule reliefs the river or sea deities to rest and the fishes to also have their quiet time. In some communities, Chiefs and fishermen make regulations to vacate rivers or sea for some period of time, may be months or weeks to allow pregnant fishes to give birth and the fingerlings grow before they return to work. Some governments have also buy into such ideas and have made rules to protect pregnant fishes and other species to labour and grow before harvesting by vacating rivers and sea according to a country’s date or calendar.

Time is a key factor in fishing. Such times are time to go to work, sleep and wake up for work. Fishermen do not mostly get sound sleep at dawn, which is the ideal period for sleeping and enjoy with family. Most fishermen wake up in the morning around 3am, 4am or 5am depending on the distance of where you cast your net. Some fishermen paddle long distance to cast their nets because of where they feel is favourable and good harvest. Domestic fishermen do not suffer as much as those who d0 it for commercial basis. The ample rest periods are Tuesdays which is a holiday and during vacation periods because fishing business is a continuous service. That reminds me of Santiago in ‘The old man and the Sea’. The old man had never gone to work late and the boy with him had wondered what the old man’s secret was. The old man said, “Age is my alarm clock.”

At dawn, fishermen on the river paddle their canoes in search of the floating corks placed on the anchor of the net. The floating corks are rubbers, tubes or lightweight material that is mounted on the anchor of the net for easy identification in case to collect the nets. The floating cork marks the starting and ending points of each net. Searching for floating corks sometimes takes time when the weather becomes unfriendly or the river moves the net to another place. Rivers sometimes move nets or traps especially during raining season or when there is storm, it doesn’t matter how strong the anchor is. Stormy weather sometimes fold and tangle nets at one place, destroying the trap. On the Abe Lagoon, boats with outboard motor did the worst by cutting through nets of fishermen with their blades, separating the net.

Fishing is sometimes a team work for large scale fishermen and single for domestic fishermen but even as such you need someone to support you for seine net operators. Large scale fisher folks go with crews that support the work to move faster. Such as paddlers, motor riders, controlling other important areas that benefits the business. These people help in the casting, drawing the net from the river and removing the fish in the net into the boat or canoe. We have those who arrange the nets accordingly in the canoe, separating it from the fish. The number of crews depend on the quantity of net or business.

The fishing business is important because it is a source of employment and it generates instant revenue for fishermen, fish mongers, retailers, distributers and government. It also has the potential to reduce unemployment if governments strategize the work well for beginners, intermediates and the advanced.

Egya Kofi and his crew also took off. The other fishermen also setoff. They were going to collect the nets they casted yesterday. They all sailed in different direction on the river pointing to where each and every one casted his net.

It was Monday, a market day at εboε. Those women who would go to the market had gotten up and were arranging their items to be sent to the wharf. Their boat later arrived. The board driver and mate loaded the goods inside and took off. The women were going to sell the fishes they gathered during the week. In return, they would buy foodstuffs and other things they’d use before another market day. Mama Asͻ was one of those women going to the market.

By Ignatius Awuah Tanoe Blay

IG-TECH MEDIA NETWORK