Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/222

Human Ecosystems: Sangana in Akassa The local fishermen of Akassa are not a threat to fish stocks on the area: their technology has barely changed in the last 100 years, although they now sometimes use nylon nets. The threat comes from deep- sea fishing boats that are able, in Nigerian conditions, to ignore national or international standards and legislation. The losers, if stocks do start to decline, will be the local people who have no economic alternative. There is no local hard evidence of a decline, and although some fishermen complained that it was harder to get fish (this may be due to the increased number of fishermen as unemployed Sangana men return from Port Harcourt) and we saw the landing of some very impressive catches.

Erosion of the Akassa coastline is a natural hazard. However, the construction of the Kainji Dam in 1967/68, by reducing flood discharge, has added to the erosion problems down-stream: there is evidence that at Onitcha the Niger River carries 20% less load than it did before the Kainji Dam was built which could tip the scales in favour of erosion along the whole Nigerian coastline. In addition to the Sangana Estuary, there is severe erosion on the Southeast point of the Brass Estuary and on the coastline between the Sangana and Fishtown estuaries.

Human population growth on Akassa is unlikely to be lower than other areas in the Niger Delta. However there appears to be substantial outward migration from the area as young men and increasingly young women go in search for employment, which reduces population pressure locally (but, of course, can only make matters worse in places like Port Harcourt). Twon (Brass) is a good example of a once important town on the Niger Delta coast that has not grown at all and possibly shrunk since 1960, despite the Agip terminal. (The only obvious urban growth, the large shanty town encouraged by Agip employment, was sacked by the local people in October 1993 and the occupants sent home).

Other Sand-Barrier Islands suffer to a greater or lesser extent from the same environmental problems described above. Brass, for instance, has the Agip terminal at Twon that has created pollution, social upheavals and erosion by the construction of a canal, but which has brought electricity to the area, that the people see as a great benefit. Water pollution is a serious problem in the Benin, Forcardos, New Calabar and Bonny Estuaries because of industrial activity.

19.7 THE ECONOMY

19.7.1 FISHING

Fishing dominates the life of Sangana and there are six types: deep-sea fishing; in-shore fishing; estuarine fishing; beach fishing; swamp fishing; and mangrove fishing. Much of the fish is dried and sold to Igbo traders who are not allowed to fish; a number of the Sangana women also trade fish.

The deep-sea fishing is primarily undertaken by Ghanaians, who are not allowed to do anything else. This is generally more capital intensive than the fishing of the local people: using large powered dugout canoes or large plank built powered boats with crews of 6 to 8. The larger boats go out for 2 or 3 days at a time, catching Shark, Barracuda, Tuna and other large fish.

Indigenous fishermen fish closer to the shore also using dugout canoes (with sails or manually and mechanically pulled), and plank built boats (much smaller than the Ghanaian boats). Including others, they catch Shiny Nose, two types of Catfish, 220