Fishing in Africa
Senior 3 · Geography
Fishing in Africa
Lesson 2 of 3
30 min
Let's begin
On a moonless night on Lake Kivu, the fishermen of Karongi and Rubavu row out in boats made of three canoes lashed together with long poles. Out on the lake they hang lamps over the water and lower a wide net between the canoes. Small silver fish rise towards the light and are scooped up: these are sambaza, the Lake Tanganyika sardine, which was brought to Lake Kivu in 1959. Off the coast of South Africa, a trawler drags a net along the sea bed for hake. Why do the two crews fish in such different ways?
Definition
Pelagic fish: fish that live in the open water near the surface or in mid-water, often in large shoals; for example sardines, anchovies, mackerel, tuna and sambaza. Demersal fish: fish that live and feed on or near the sea bed; for example hake, sole and kob. Shellfish: water animals with shells, including crustaceans (shrimps, prawns, lobsters) and molluscs (octopus, squid, oysters). Shoal: a large group of fish swimming together.
| Group | Where they live | African examples | Usual catching method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelagic sea fish | Surface and mid-water, in shoals | Sardines (Morocco), pilchards and anchovy (South Africa), sardinella (Angola), tuna | Purse seine, drift net, long line |
| Demersal sea fish | On or near the sea bed, over the continental shelf | Hake (South Africa), sole, kob, croakers (Nigeria) | Trawl, long line, hand line |
| Shellfish | Sea bed, rocks and lagoons | Shrimps (Nigeria, Angola), rock lobster (South Africa), octopus (Morocco) | Trawl, traps and pots |
| Freshwater fish | Lakes, rivers and swamps | Tilapia, Nile perch, catfish, sambaza (Lake Kivu) | Gill nets, lift nets, traps, hook and line |
The method depends on where the fish live and how they move. Figure 3 shows the two most important methods of large-scale sea fishing.
Definition
Purse seine: a net set in a circle around a shoal and closed at the bottom like a drawstring purse. Trawl: a cone-shaped net towed by a boat, along the sea bed or in mid-water. Gill net: a wall of netting in which fish are caught by their gills as they try to swim through. Long line: a long fishing line with many baited hooks. Mesh size: the size of the holes in a net; a larger mesh lets young fish escape.
| Feature | Artisanal (small-scale) fishing | Commercial (industrial) fishing |
|---|---|---|
| Boats | Canoes and small boats, rowed, sailed or with an outboard motor | Large trawlers and purse seiners, some with freezers on board |
| Gear | Gill nets, lift nets, hooks, traps, beach seines | Purse seines, trawls, long lines, echo sounders |
| Where | Near the shore, lagoons, lakes and rivers | Far out on the continental shelf and the open sea |
| Catch and market | Small catches for local markets, often smoked or sun-dried | Large catches, frozen or canned, often for export |
| Examples | Lake Kivu, the lagoons of Lagos, Angola's beaches | Hake trawlers from Cape Town, sardine purse seiners from Agadir |
Fish go bad quickly in the heat, so they must be preserved: by freezing and chilling on ice, smoking over a fire (common in Nigeria and Ghana), salting, sun-drying (as with sambaza on the shores of Lake Kivu) or canning (as in Morocco's sardine canneries).
Worked example
Worked example 1: choosing a method. A crew wants to catch a shoal of sardines swimming near the surface off Safi, Morocco. Which method should they choose, and why?
Worked example
Worked example 2: a night's catch (illustrative figures). A Lake Kivu boat lands 45 kg of sambaza in a night and sells it at 2,000 Frw per kg. The crew of 9 share 60% of the income equally. How much does each fisherman earn?
Warning
Do not mix up pelagic and demersal. Pelagic fish live up in the open water ("pelagic" comes from the Greek word for the open sea); demersal fish live down by the sea bed. Purse seines and drift nets catch pelagic fish; bottom trawls catch demersal fish.
Tip
When asked to describe a fishing method, give three things: the gear (what the net or line looks like), how it is used step by step, and which fish it catches and where. A labelled sketch earns marks too.
Ethnoframe: night fishing on Lake Kivu with the fishermen of Kibuye (Karongi). Watch how the three boats work as a team and how the lamps and net are used.
Practice
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
