'Where there is fish, is where I put my head': Challenges of mobile fishers in Elmina fishing community in Ghana

Small-scale fisheries are crucial for improving livelihoods by providing fisher employment, and food security. As part of their work, fishers frequently move to different fishing communities to catch and trade in fish. This paper analyses the living circumstances of artisanal fishers and discusses their mobility patterns, lodging arrangements, and the difficulties they encounter as they carry out their work. This paper is based on a study that involved 385 artisanal fishers in the fishing community of Elmina in the Komenda Edina Equafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. The results show that there are not many suitable places to stay for fishers when they travel from home to other fishing locations, and the few places that do offer affordable lodging also lack toilets, bathrooms and drinkable water. The paper also reflects on the gendered dynamics of these and related issues of insecurity for women in this case study. District authorities whose economies are heavily dependent on fishing ought to collaborate with private housing developers and the state to build affordable lodging facilities with standard household amenities like water, toilets and baths in fishing destinations to address the housing issues faced by fishers while travelling.