The Impact of Fishing on the Eastern Niger Delta People of Nigeria, 1885-1945

This paper examines the impact of fishing as an occupation, on the peoples of the eastern Niger Delta area of Nigeria between 1885 and 1945. Fishing was an indigenous occupation that sustained whole families long before the imposition of colonial rule and its introduction of white collar jobs. Fishing contributed to the growth and development of the Eastern Niger Delta area. It was a form of agriculture that was practised by both men and women in the eastern Niger Delta area. The fishing implements used were vestigial and crude. They included different types of traps, hooks, nets, poisonous chemicals and poisoned arrows. This paper examines critically fishing as an occupation and its contribution to the indigenous economy of the Eastern Niger Delta. The study concludes that fishing activities held sway in the Eastern Niger Delta area of Nigeria during the period under consideration and also contributed to the sustenance of the indigenous economy of the Eastern Niger Delta area.