‘One man no chop’. Beach seine fishing in Ghana (West Africa).
This photo essay describes one of the fishing techniques used in Ghana the beach seine. Beach seining is ‘one of the most common fishing techniques used in peasant societies’ which could be found all over the world in the 1950s and 1960s (Alexander 1995:110) and has recently been studied for India (Hopewell 2004 and Southwold 2005). In Ghana this technique has been used since 1860 when it was introduced by Afedima, a female entrepreneur from Woe in the Volta Region (Akyeampong 2001:73). It is mainly used by the Anlo-Ewe, one of three ethnic groups. Active in marine fishing. Afedima had close relations with European merchants (Greene 996:74), through whom she obtained the net. The local name for the net is yevudor, which means ‘white man’s net’.
