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1.5 Control of illegal destructive fishing practices
The responses of the colonial administrators and the indigenous community leaders during the colonial era to the new fishing practices, particularly the Ali varied. The fisher folks’
attitude towards the new fishing practices also varied. Some of the fishermen and their leaders in fishing communities such as Teshie, Labadi and Nungua were opposed to the new fishing
net. They protested against the use of the Ali by their colleagues and also attempted to enact bye-laws to prohibit its usage. The colonial administrators did not see the Ali as destructive.
Indeed, they considered it as very effective and harmless to the fishing industry in the Gold Coast. They therefore decided not to “countenance any attempt to prevent the use of the Ali
nets merely because the fishing population who employ them have advantages over their
neighbours”Atta- KessonAtuguba, n.d. The posture of the central government with respect to regulation of fishing industry
changed after independence. All the post independent governments have passed a number of laws to regulate the fisheries sector of our national economy. The most
recent of all the laws is the fisheries Act, 2002Act 625 which provides the framework for the regulation and management of fisheries and also the development
and sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the country. As stated earlier, the Fisheries Act 2002 Act 625 is the most recent legal regime that regulates the
fisheries industry in Ghana. In particular, Act 625 provides a unit to be established under the Fisheries Commission, which will monitor, control and enforce the rules in
the Actand any other rules relating to fisheries.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
The primary goal of this research is to gain thorough understanding of the subject at stake- the control of illegal, destructive and non-sustainable fishing practices in Ghana. Such
understanding requires in part, critical review of related documents and literature on the subject. Specifically, the literature review will describe types of illegal practices common in
artisanal fishing, its evolution and previous attempts to halt the practice in Ghana.
2.1 Site exploration
As a matter of importance, the researcher undertook site exploration in order to establish personal familiarity with the research sites and the people who were involved in the study
before commencement of the formal fieldwork. This helped the researcher to acquaint himself with socio-cultural dynamics of the communities and to establish good rapport with potential
respondents. According to Binder and Geis 1993, p.51 “there is no substitute for personal familiarity with research site and the persons who are involved in what is being examined”.
Respondents may not find it too easy talking to a “stranger” about their involvement in an activity considered illegal or deviant unless they can trust the researcher. It also helped to
reduce or remove any form of trepidation on the part of the respondents.
2.2 Data collection
The study relied heavily on qualitative methods of data collection. They included ethnographic interviews such as key informant interviews, expert interviews and observation
where it was feasible to do so. The application of these methods engendered open discussion of issues with the respondents. Thus, an unstructured interview guide was the tool used to
elicit responses from the interviewees. This ensured flexibility much needed in research works bothering on criminality. To ensure that the responses provided by the respondents
32 were not ‘learned’, the respondents were encouraged to express their views in a less
structured manner. The interviewer had to adopt good listening skills because of the way most fishers talk or speak. However, on a number of occasions, the researcher had to probe the
respondents for clarity and consistency in their submissions. All the interviews and interactions were captured on tapes in order to reduce the time spent with the respondents and
for manually recording interviews.
2.3 Sampling techniques
In view of the peculiar nature of the issue under investigation, respondents were purposively sampled for the study. The sampling was based on respondents’ knowledge and expertise
with respect to illegal and destructive artisanal fishing practices. The snowballing method was applied in order to reach other respondents in addition to those who were purposively
identified to take part in the study. In all, 65 respondents took part in the study. Please see table one for the details.The following fishing communities were sampled for the study. The
communities are major artisanal fishing centers in the Central Region of Ghana. These communities were, Cape Coast, Elmina, Ekon, Apam, Mumford and Moree all in the Central
Region of Ghana.
Table 5-0-A: The number and type of people sampled for the study.
Chief fishermen
elders No.
Fishermen No.
Fishery Department FD REP from
industrial fishing Representatives of
fisheries Department No.
Ekon 4
Abrofompoano 6
Field Reps 3
Moree 2
Moree 8
Director 1
Apam 8
Elmina 8
Mumford 4
Reps. Industrial fisheries.
2 Apam
4 Ekon
8 Cape Coast
2 Elmina
5 Total
20 6
39 6
Source: Field Report, 2010
2.4 Data analysis
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