Observations of Cooperative Pond Fishing by the Bayaka and Bantu People in the Flooded Forest of the Northern Republic of Congo

Abstract

The subsistence techniques of the Congo Basin peoples are diverse and well-adapted to local ecological and socio-cultural contexts. Besides well-known fishing techniques using dams, nets, barriers, or poison, the BaYaka and Bantu in the northern Republic of Congo use ponds dug by humans, called mosongo. In the flooded forest, the ponds function as fish traps when fish seek refuge there at the end of the dry season. In March 2020, the authors conducted participant observation and interviews with the BaYaka and Bantu who engaged in pond fishing. Some mosongo were inherited from and managed by informants’ grandmothers or mothers. Generally, the Bantu fisher-farmers visit this area once a year to make money with the catch from pond fishing. As in a variety of foraging activities, the Bantu recruit the BaYaka for labor and compensate them with some fish. Much surplus catch is sold in markets. For the BaYaka, pond fishing was one of their important seasonal subsistence activities. Yet, the BaYaka also sold surplus fish to the Bantu. This report provides additional evidence for the diversity in subsistence techniques in the Congo Basin, and reaffirms the importance of inter-ethnic relationships in the subsistence strategies in this region.