Every day, fishermen from the seaside towns of Prampram, Cape Coast, and Ada, Ghana, head out to sea, where they fish up to 40 kilometers offshore.
For generations, families in these communities have fished the Atlantic Ocean.
What they catch determines the livelihood of their communities and families.
Rising early to battle the breakers, and after a pause for prayer, their 10-hour workday begins.
Back on land, the selling, cleaning, and cooking of the fish become a lively affair.
Living hand to mouth, the fish are sold, carried in baskets by families, and prepared for frying in oil for the evening meal. Some days, there are barely any fish after a full day’s work.
To make matters worse, overfishing by large foreign fleets, many from China, has depleted the supply of fish.
Millions of dollars are reported to be taken from Ghana’s economy each year through overfishing by foreign countries.
Because of this, the government of Ghana has implemented an annual one-month fishing ban on local fishermen.
Many do not know how they will make a living during the ban and continue to fish illegally, risking fines in order to feed themselves.
With fish supplies dwindling and the food chain broken as a result, these communities have little to fall back on, and the future of Ghana’s fishing industry is in danger.
About Dan Fenstermacher
Dan Fenstermacher is an internationally recognized photographer whose work merges documentary storytelling and street photography.
Fenstermacher’s diverse experiences have taken him across four continents. He has served as Professor of Fine Arts at Xiangfan University in China and as an artist-in-residence in San Ramón, Costa Rica, where he held a solo exhibition at the Museo de San Ramón.
He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from San Jose State University. He is a member of the international street photography collective Full Frontal Flash and a professor in the Photography program at West Valley Community College in Saratoga, California. He is also a freelance photographer for Content Magazine and a volunteer photographer with Make-A-Wish.
His project about the stigma associated with mental health disorders has been highlighted in The Huffington Post, and his work has received awards from the Smithsonian, the Paris International Street Photo Awards, the Miami Street Photography Festival, the 2023 Content Magazine Emerging Artist Award, and the 2022 Excellence in Multimedia Storytelling Award from CENTER Santa Fe. [Official Website]
