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Article: Fishing in troubled waters: fishing is an integral part of life in Liberia, West Africa, but the profession is under threat. Foreign trawlers are scooping up fish in vast quantities, with potentially catastrophic consequences for a country that is struggling to recover from civil war.(culture LIBERIAN FISHING)
- Article from:
- Geographical
- Article date:
- June 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Circle Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It's 7.30am in the waterside slum of West Point, in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The sun is edging steadily up the horizon and fishing chief Kofi Kwansa's crew have just finished preparing their brightly painted boat, Psalm 35, for another day at sea.
After pushing off from the dock, the vessel, manned by Ghanaian ethnic Fantis and indigenous Liberians, makes its way down the West Point inlet, past thousands of corrugated-steel shacks and out towards the Atlantic Ocean.
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The smell of human excrement wafts through the air and children, dressed in rags, play among heaps of garbage. A young boy, who has cast out a hand ...