246 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



institution of co-operative schemes for the marketing of supplies 

 from the local fishery (plate iii, p. 238). 



Dr. F. R. Irvine of Achimota College has published two papers on 

 the fish and fishing industry of the Gold Coast (1930 and 193 1). Mr. 

 A. P. Brown, also attached to Achimota, has studied and reported 

 (1937) on the industry at Labadi on the Gold Coast, and Miss 

 Field has submitted a short report on the need for improving 

 methods of curing. An American ichthyologist, Mr. H. W. Fowler 

 (1936), has provided an extensive reference work on the marine 

 fishes and fishlike vertebrates from the west coast of tropical Africa, 

 based on material collected by the American Museum Congo 

 Expedition, 1909-15. 



In addition to the experience with trawlers in Sierra Leone, it is 

 worth noting that a company attempted to start a fish industry 

 at Lagos in Nigeria some years ago, using a traw^ler. Operations 

 were discontinued after a short while, partly because the product 

 was not popular with the native consumers, but such enterprise 

 might now prove more successful. West Africa seems to offer good 

 opportunity for a fish-meal and fish-fertilizer industry, with oil as 

 a by-product. 



Freshwater fisheries are of less importance in West than in East 

 Africa. The Niger, Volta, and other rivers, however, are sources 

 of fish for internal trade, and Lake Chad, a considerable part of 

 which borders Nigerian territory, offers extensive resources for 

 future development. In Nigeria the situation has been studied by 

 an administrative officer, Mr. J. B. Welman, on whose information 

 the following notes are based. 



It appears that native fishing in the rivers has increased con- 

 siderably in recent years, and the introduction of European nets 

 in some regions may lead to serious depletions of the stock. There 

 is no room, therefore, for large-scale commercial exploitation, but 

 development should be based on a native fishery, and be preceded 

 by an effective system of control. A taxonomic study of the fish 

 has been made, but no ecological work has been attempted, such 

 as could form a basis for a development policy. There are indica- 

 tions of seasonal movement offish up and down the rivers, perhaps 

 for purposes of breeding. At present unrestricted fishing leads to 

 the slaughter of immature and breeding fish. In addition to a con- 



