Fishing in troubled waters: oil production, seaweed and community-level grievances in the Western Region of Ghana
Fishing in troubled waters: oil production, seaweed and community-level grievances in the Western Region of Ghana
复制标题
浑水捕鱼：加纳西部地区的石油生产、海藻和社区层面的不满
DOI：
10.1093/cdj/bst022
复制
发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Abigail Ackah
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Abigail Ackah
本文探讨了最近加纳产油区马尾藻（自由漂浮的海藻）扩散的观点。加纳朱比利油田周围的许多渔村的海岸现在都覆盖着正在腐烂的马尾藻，这些马尾藻除了释放出难闻的气味外，还堵塞了当地渔民的渔网和船舶发动机，从而严重扰乱了他们的生计。来自三点角等村庄的渔民将腐烂马尾藻的“变黑”颜色与最近开始的石油生产联系起来，呼吁政府对在朱比利油田运营的主要公司塔洛进行纪律处分，并给予相应补偿。政府和塔洛的代表反驳说，马尾藻是许多水生物种的重要食物来源，其日益增多的存在更多地与当地的捕鱼习惯有关：这是过度捕捞的结果，而不是石油生产的结果。无论这种现象是否巧合，政策制定者和政府官员对马尾藻日益增加的不满情绪的反应都严重不足，而且相当典型地体现了为促进加纳和更广泛的次区域受石油生产影响的社区的发展而采取的总体方法。
This paper examines perspectives on the recent proliferation of sargassum (free-floating seaweed) in the oil-producing region of Ghana. The shores of many fishing villages surrounding Ghana's Jubilee Oil Field are now covered with decomposing sargassum, which, in addition to releasing offensive smells, clogs the fishing nets and boat engines of local fishermen, in turn, disrupting livelihoods considerably. Fishermen from villages such as Cape Three Points have linked the 'blackened' colour of rotting sargassum to the recent commencement of oil production, calling on the government to discipline Tullow, the main company operating in the Jubilee Oil Field, and to compensate them accordingly. Representatives from the government and Tullow have countered by stating that the growing presence of sargassum, which is an important source of food for numerous aquatic species, has more to do with local fishing habits: that it is a result of overfishing, not oil production. Whether this phenomenon is coincidental or not, the response of both policy-makers and government officials to mounting grievances over sargassum has been woefully inadequate, and fairly symptomatic of the approach being taken overall to foster development in communities affected by oil production in Ghana and the wider sub-region.