Participant observation is where the researcher is able to observe events and interview informants about things and events. Participant observation is where one spends time being, live or work with people or communities he is studying so as to comprehend them. (Laurier, 2003:133). “The participant observer gathers data by participating in the daily life of the group or organization he studies. He watches the people he is studying to see what situations they ordinarily meet and how they behave in them. He enters into conversation with some or all of the participants in these situations and discovers their interpretations of the events he has discovered” (Eyles and Smith, 1998:8).
The main aim was to understand the fishing occupation, the institutions governing the fisheries and land resources and how the informants go about it. Participant observation necessitates first hand participation in the community under study (Marshall and Rossman, 1995:78). This means that observation entails the organised making of notes and recording of events, behaviour and things in the community (Ibid). In the course of doing the fieldwork I observed several fascinating events, just by moving around on the shore to observe how the people were going about their daily activities like the way they paddle the canoe, cast the net and also the way they pull the net by singing and cracking interesting jokes. Interesting events were also observed in the Abakam in general. In an attempt to know more about their daily life activities, I could speak to many fishers especially the youth, women and other people I met on the shore and in the community. In the community I observed that during the off season the women were just sleeping in the sand and when I approached them they said they did not have anything to do. The women did also not go to farm with their husbands because they had to cross river Bakam by a canoe (if they had one) or by swimming and they saw that as a dangerous activity, so they only farm when the river subsides in volume. It was also noticed that the young men went to sea with the canoe while the old men would be waiting at the beach. In other words, the fishing occupation in
they wanted to be friendly with me they would speak the Fante dialect, but when they wanted to hide something from me then they would speak the Ewe dialect. So I would sometimes ask Daniel what they were saying and he would tell me what was going on. In certain circumstances he would tell me it was not necessary so I should forget about it but I kept on asking him and he would tell me. I also observed the way the women processed a local food called gari.
Although I tried my best, I found it very difficult to be integrated generally in the community as a participant due to the language barrier, though on few occasions they would speak Fante with me. In an attempt to participate in their daily activities, I suggested fishing with the crew in the canoe but since I could not swim they advised me against that and because of that I could not participate in the casting of the net. However, I took part in the process of pulling the beach seine to the beach (14 and 15). Putting him/herself in the social situation assists one to hear, see, and begin to understand and feel reality as the local dwellers do (Ibid). Since it was my first time of pulling net, I was incompetent and could see myself described as an ‘outsider’ (Laurier, 2003:135). Because of this the fishers were only expecting me to be observing and learn how to pull the net. In the process of pulling the net we would be singing and cracking jokes simultaneously. These songs and jokes gave us extra vigour to pull the nets without feeling tired. Again sometimes I tried to mend the nets with them and was also involved in drying the nets as well. Although a participant observer does not need to become excellent in the whole activity before becoming successful (Ibid: 137), I was able to acquire some common knowledge about how the beach seine is being pulled to the shore and how the canoe is also dragged to the beach by the fishers. However, I tried on several occasions to visit their farms but to no avail because it was a rainy season and river Bakam was full and since I could not swim I was not allowed cross the river.
Plate 14: Pulling of beach seine ashore
Plate 15 : Fish caught
Nevertheless, the participant observation in the form of qualitative approach assisted me in taking part in their daily activities like the fishing. This also helped me to actually comprehend some of the institutions regarding the use of the fishing grounds (see chapter six). Through this I understood the nature and the kind of work they were engaging in. During this period how the fish caught are shared and how some of the disputes emerge were also identified and noted (see chapter seven). Through this method I was able to get ‘more direct access’ (Ibid: 145) to the phenomenon I was studying.