Some of the women doing brisk business
Removing scales from fish which is part of the post-harvest fishing activities has become a lucrative venture for some women at the Sekondi landing beach.
While fish-mongers throng the Sekondi landing site on daily basis to engage in robust buying and selling of fish, a group of women have also made the removal of fish scales their main economic activity.
When customers buy the fish at the shore, the fishmongers will persuade the buyers to allow the women to remove the fish scales and cut them into pieces for them at a fee.
This processing activity creates income and provide livelihoods for many of the women and their respective households.
Ama Essuon, one of the women told DAILY GUIDE that she charges between GH¢20.00 and GH¢100 cedis depending on the quantity of the fish.
“The business is very brisk from about 6am to 11am each day excluding Tuesdays and I am able to get GH¢600 or GH¢800 a day”, she asserted.
She indicated that because of the lucrative nature of the business some of the women even come along with their grown female children to assist them.
Another woman, Salamatu Abdulai, also indicated that removing of fish scales is very profitable particularly, during bumper catch.
She said normally fishermen bring their catches from the boats, and the women mostly take over the selling of the products on behalf of the fishermen.
“The fishmongers also do the removal of the fish scales after customers have purchased the fish”, she disclosed.
She added “By processing the fish this way, the women add significant value to the catch and sometimes it enhances the marketability of the fish”.
Meanwhile, some of the fishermen told DAILY GUIDE in an interview that they are experiencing bumper catch after the end of this year’s closed season.
They indicated, “We have been catching cassava fish, red fish, sardinella and snapper among others, which is a positive sign that the season will be better”.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi