Social and migratory impacts of collective seine fishing on the upper Niger River

Abstract

On the upper Niger, two river sections in Mali and Guinea are affected by family and entrepreneurial seine fishing practices leading to seasonal migration phenomena. Although the physical, cultural, social and political contexts are obviously not the same, the existence of entrepreneurial fishermen, owners of large seines–the joba–in Mali and of a smaller size in Guinea–the jolé–is the result of similar processes in terms of their economic organisation and their exploitation of the river environment. The different practices of fishing with the jolé and joba seine nets are important technical indicators of the degree of cohesion and consultation between fishing villages in the same region. In fact, the study of their practices and the places where they are practised informs us of the state of power relations existing on the river and the management of common aquatic territories.