KAWA MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Introduction
Fishing is one of the oldest occupations of mankind. The alarming increase in world population has made fishing activities even more important. Fishing like mining is also referred to as robber industry because over fishing leads to exhaustion and pollution. There are three categories of fish: Salt water fish, fresh water fish and anadromous fish.
In Africa the importance and development of the fishing industry varies greatly from one locality to the other. There is no general pattern of fish consumption in any one region on the continent. Whereas fish forms an important source of animal proteins in some parts of the continent where meat and milk are expensive and in short supply, in some parts of the continent fish is not eaten at all.
In pastoral communities fish are not eaten for cultural reasons. Other people still believe that fish are like snakes and are not fit for human consumption. African fishermen catch fish for both, subsistence and commercial purposes. And Africa has both marine and fresh water fisheries.
Marine fishing grounds are located along the coastlines of the three water bodies that wash the African landmass. These are the Atlantic ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. But the major areas of large scale commercial fishing are found in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. These include the coastal waters of Morocco, Western Sahara (Sahrawi Democratic Republic), Mauritania, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Generally marine fishing is more important along the western coastline than along the eastern coastline of the continent. The major reason for this is that the western coastline is washed by the two cold currents i.e. Benguela current and canary current which allow plankton to drift along thereby attracting large concentrations of fish. The major species of fish caught in Africa are tilapia (Ngege), sardines, Tuna, shrimps, herring, anchovies and Nile Perch. Much of Africa's marine fishing is limited to a few kilometres of the coastline. This is because most fishermen, apart front those in South Africa still use very inefficient methods for catching fish. Their fishing vessels are not powerful enough to engage in deep sea fishing.
Given such low levels of technological development in the fishing industry, African fishermen have not been able to exploit fish resources in deep waters away from the continental shelves. Foreign fishing vessels from Japan, Russia, Korea, Western Europe and the United States have taken advantage of this and have always been seen extracting fish in Africa's territorial waters particularly in the Atlantic ocean. Russia and Japan are also fishing in the Indian ocean off Africans coast.
In Africa the importance and development of the fishing industry varies greatly from one locality to the other. There is no general pattern of fish consumption in any one region on the continent. Whereas fish forms an important source of animal proteins in some parts of the continent where meat and milk are expensive and in short supply, in some parts of the continent fish is not eaten at all.
In pastoral communities fish are not eaten for cultural reasons. Other people still believe that fish are like snakes and are not fit for human consumption. African fishermen catch fish for both, subsistence and commercial purposes. And Africa has both marine and fresh water fisheries.
Marine fishing grounds are located along the coastlines of the three water bodies that wash the African landmass. These are the Atlantic ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. But the major areas of large scale commercial fishing are found in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. These include the coastal waters of Morocco, Western Sahara (Sahrawi Democratic Republic), Mauritania, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Generally marine fishing is more important along the western coastline than along the eastern coastline of the continent. The major reason for this is that the western coastline is washed by the two cold currents i.e. Benguela current and canary current which allow plankton to drift along thereby attracting large concentrations of fish. The major species of fish caught in Africa are tilapia (Ngege), sardines, Tuna, shrimps, herring, anchovies and Nile Perch. Much of Africa's marine fishing is limited to a few kilometres of the coastline. This is because most fishermen, apart front those in South Africa still use very inefficient methods for catching fish. Their fishing vessels are not powerful enough to engage in deep sea fishing.
Given such low levels of technological development in the fishing industry, African fishermen have not been able to exploit fish resources in deep waters away from the continental shelves. Foreign fishing vessels from Japan, Russia, Korea, Western Europe and the United States have taken advantage of this and have always been seen extracting fish in Africa's territorial waters particularly in the Atlantic ocean. Russia and Japan are also fishing in the Indian ocean off Africans coast.