By Shuimo Trust Dohyee and Beng Emmanuel Kum
Buea, Cameroon – Bola Ebulowua Leke, 50, and her husband used to run a thriving fish-smoking business in the once-flourishing island community of Kangue, on the Southwest Coast of Cameroon, known for its fishing. But now, the pungent aroma of smoke that once filled her home has vanished, replaced by the oppressive silence of an empty hearth.
Already bearing the loss of her husband five years ago, Leke’s worries have grown as a steep decline in fish catch has put the very source of her livelihood in peril.
Leke’s story is a microcosm of the devastation that climate change is wreaking on Cameroon’s fishing industry. And for her, this loss of income has also imperiled the food security of her family — and others like her in her community. Studies predict a significant decline in global fish catches by 2050 due to rising CO2. Globally, catches are expected to fall by 7.7%, but the impact will be far more severe in West Africa, potentially exceeding 26%. Under a 2°C warming scenario, Cameroon braces for a severe blow to its fishing industry, with projections indicating a 15-31% reduction in fish catch.
“Seven years ago, I used to earn about 145,000 XAF [$239] a month from smoking fish,” Leke told Game Changers. “Things became so tough for me when my husband died … but are even tougher now as I can’t even make a quarter of what I used to make before from smoking fish.”
Leke stood beside a hearth that she said used to be full of smoked fish but is now empty.
“There is no fish again in the water,” she said. “I can’t provide for my family again.”
Leke and her grandchild stand beside an empty hearth that used to be full of smoked fish but is now empty. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
While the decline in fish catch poses a significant threat, it is not the sole challenge facing these communities. The Southwest Coast of Cameroon forms part of the Gulf of Guinea, which also has been the epicenter of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Because of this, on top of the effects of climate change, the livelihood of over 5 million people who depend on fishing for survival in the Gulf of Guinea is being threatened. Research by the University of Ghana reveals that climate change has led to a tremendous fall in the stock of fish in the Gulf of Guinea, with Cameroon being amongst the countries hardest hit.
Economic resilience
Families are adjusting and adopting strategies to make a living despite the dwindling fortunes of the business.
Quadolia Cornell, 72, and her 14-year-old granddaughter are compelled to venture deep into the open sea each day in a small boat, fishing to supplement their meager income. This arduous routine has become a necessity since Quadolia’s previous job as a fish smoker could no longer meet their basic needs. Emigrated from Nigeria, Cornell and her husband built a new life in Cameroon for 28 years. Then, 10 years ago, she lost her spouse.
The Cornells first settled in a small fishing Island community called Mboko 1 on the Southwest Coast of Cameroon. Upon their arrival in Cameroon, Mami Eunice, as Cornell is fondly called, immediately picked up a job as a fish smoker that guaranteed her a steady flow of income. She smoked her husband’s fish and that of other fishermen in her community, which had kept her going until recently.
“Today’s catch isn’t the best but I am still very happy with the little we got,” Cornell said with a broad smile on her face as she docked her boat. “I will sell some and keep some for me and my granddaughter,” she said.
Cornell after coming back from the sea early in the morning. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
On Cameroon’s southwest coast, 92 percent of women are engaged in fish, crabs, and crayfish processing as their main source of income, according to research published by Earthscan. The fall in the stock of these marine creatures directly affects the incomes of women like Cornell who now have no choice but to dare the sea to supplement her income.
Since Mami Eunice stepped her feet into new waters, she is on more solid financial ground.. “Since I started fishing, my income has increased as compared to when I was depending solely on smoking fish. Today I make at least 72000 to 91000 XAF ($120 to $150) a month, up from 17000 XAF ($28) when I was depending solely on fish smoking. This helps me to pay the school fee of my granddaughter and also provide for our basic needs easily,” she said.
Cameroon’s fishery sector employs more than 240,000 “artisanal” fisherfolk like Cornell. The sector in 2019 contributed approximately 3 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, which amounted to the equivalent of about XAF 25 trillion ($39 billion).
Artisanal fishers in these island communities sell their fish in local markets and export some to neighbouring Nigeria. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
Unlike most men who attach an engine on their boats that make it easy for them to navigate the rough waters, Mami Eunice uses a paddle. “Considering my age, I get so tired when I paddle this boat. I hope I can also get an engine to attach to my boat,” she said.
In fact, fishing would not be her first choice of income if she had another option..
“If I had another source of income other than fishing to complement the small income I occasionally get from smoking fish, I would have stopped fishing by now. I am suffering from chest pain and waking up every 2 am to go to the sea is not healthy for me,” Cornell said.
Other women just like Cornell are adjusting to the dwindling fortunes of fishermen which is directly affecting them as fish smokers. This adjustment is however very slow given that alternative sources of income other than fish smoking are difficult to come by.
Mami Tachi (as she prefers to be called), 38, who used to solely smoke fish in the fishing community of Tachi, now follows her husband to the sea.
“I realized that I couldn’t depend only on smoking fish,” she said. She assists her husband, sometimes taking the front seat in the sea during their fishing expeditions. “Our income has improved significantly as compared to when I was only at home smoking fish.”
Despite the dwindling fish stock, Mami Tachi however thinks that their catch would be comparatively better if “Chinese trawlers” were not destroying their fishing nets. Cameroon’s fishing legislature mandates industrial fishing vessels to operate from a depth of 3 nautical miles away from the coastline while artisanal fishers are expected to stay within the limit of 3 nautical miles away from the coastline. Industrial fishing vessels, thanks to the weaknesses of Cameroon’s monitoring systems, have however continued to violate this law by encroaching into the space of artisanal fishers with impunity.
Mami Tachi in her boat. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
Connecting the dots
The scarcity of fish in the waters of these island communities is causing misery to inhabitants, yet they also are partly responsible. Jean Hude Ekindi Moundingo, a conservationist, argues that man-made factors are partly responsible for the dwindling fish stock in Cameroon’s coastal area. Moundingo, who has worked with local communities along the southwest coast of Cameroon in restoring mangroves, told Game Changers that the population’s firmness to harvest the mangroves is having untold consequences.
Cameroon’s mangrove forests cover about 250,000 hectares and are among the most extensive in Africa, but have continued to be exploited unsustainably for various reasons.
“There are many reasons why fish and other marine creatures are disappearing in these islands,” Moundingo said. “First, you have the increase in population growth and the destruction of the ecosystem from which fishes breed. It has been proven that the breeding ground of fish and other aquatic species around the marine area is the mangroves. Unfortunately, island dwellers have continued to harvest the mangroves unsustainably.”
Locals harvest mangrove wood to smoke fish and also sell in Inland communities. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
The conservationist also faults unsustainable fish exploitation for the constant fall in fish stock in Cameroon’s waters. “You have these big trawlers with irregular nets that catch almost every living thing in the sea. Even artisanal fishermen use chemicals to catch fish,” Moundingo said. “This is very unsustainable and prevents the regeneration of fish and other marine species. This, coupled with the effects of climate change is making the sea almost barren.”
In January 2023, Cameroon’s fishery products were banned from EU markets as a result of its inability to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Though Cameroon’s government together with NGOs and local communities have put on a fight to reverse it, the ban is yet to be lifted.
Forsong Fidelis, a climate activist who worked with these island communities in 2023 to preserve and conserve their marine and mangrove resources said he regrets that “the reduction of fish in the waters of the southwest coast of Cameroon is disproportionately affecting women. Most of these women depend only on fish smoking for survival.”
“The reduction of fish in these islands is simply a death penalty to these women.”
Though he acknowledges the contribution of other factors to the reduction of fish stock in these islands, Fidelis believes that climate change is the root cause of the problem.
To corroborate Fidelis’ claim, research published by Research Gate reveals that climate change and sea level rise are taking a toll on coral reefs and mangroves, which in turn affect fish populations negatively in the coastal regions of Cameroon. The research further reveals that coral bleaching (when they are exposed to changes in conditions such as temperature) and increased coral mortality have caused a reduction in fish stock in this area.
Inhabitants of these island communities dump their household waste, and out-of-use fishing materials in the sea, and the sea ‘regurgitates’ them at the shoreline. Photo Credit: Shuimo Trust Dohyee
Fidelis thinks that the only way out of this dilemma for women is by developing sustainable livelihood options for them to reduce their overreliance on smoking fish. While other women like Cornell are swift to adapt, Fidelis regrets that some are not able to and thus need assistance.
Leke is now considering returning to her home country, Nigeria. She is however unsure of how to begin her life in a country she has been away from for decades.
“Bawo ni Mo yoo ye pule awon omo mi ti Mo ba pada si Nigeria?” Leke asked in her native Yoruba. “How will I survive with my children if I go back to Nigeria?”
