The canoe has been the traditional fishing craft in Ghana since ancient times. These dugout canoes are made from a local tree Triplochiton scleroxylon called “wawa” in Ghana. The canoe design is symmetrical and double ended (Figure 2).
According to the 1981 Canoes Census conducted by the Fisheries Department there are approximately 7 000 fishing canoes in Ghana.
| Canoe Census 1981 | |
|---|---|
| - Small and medium size canoes | 2 746 |
| - Large ali poli canoes | 3 359 |
| - Large beach seine canoes | 833 |
| Total | 6 938 |
There are four types of canoe in Ghana. The sizes are determined by the overall length and the maximum beam or width. Each type is used for a particular method of fishing and are locally identified as follows:
These are very small canoes of 4–5 m long and 40–50 cm wide. They are symmetrically shaped, the stern being identical to the bow (Figure 3). It is a very common craft in the Western Region where it is known as a “donkua”. It is principally used to operate bottom set longlines and handlines in the inshore waters and also castnets on the lagoons. They are mainly propelled by paddle.
These are 6–11 m long and 70–100 cm wide canoes, which are mainly used to operate bottom set and floating gillnets. At Kpone some fishermen have decked these canoes to operate drifting gillnets (amifa-amifa). The canoes are propelled by paddle, sail and outboard engine.
These are the largest canoes. They are 12–18 m long and 1.30–1.80 m wide. This size of canoe is also used to operate the “ali” gillnet, as well as the “poli”, “watsa” and “achiki na oye” purse seines. The canoes used for purse seining are decked and are mainly found in Tema and Kpone (Figure 5). These canoes are mainly motorized with outboard engine.
These are normally old “ali” canoes which have been converted for beach seine operations. The bow is raised to avoid taking water when crossing the surf. They are propelled by oars, paddles or outboard engine and are mainly found between Ningo and Keta (Figure 6).
The motorization of canoes started in 1959. An account of the motorization has been given by Rawson (1959) in his report on fitting outboard motors to Ghanaian fishing canoes. The side mounting method was found most suitable and is recommended.
The mounting brackets, as illustrated by Rawson (Figure 7 (I)), has undergone some modifications. At present, the bracket is permanently fixed to the side of the canoe without an inner panel. The back panel being extended across the full width of the canoe, bracing the opposite side (Figure 7 (II)).
The most common outboard engines currently used by the Ghanaian fishermen are Chrysler, Yamaha and Johnson in the 25–30 hp range.
The canoe and its accessories are illustrated in Figure 8, which shows a typical sail rig with bamboo spars and a long paddle tiller or steering oar. .cl.
