Fish sellers at the James Town Fishing Harbour in Accra have continued to trade on the shoreline despite the opening of a purpose-built market in 2024, raising concerns over hygiene and food safety at one of the capital’s major fishing centres. The market, inaugurated in September 2024 as part of the fishing harbour project, has capacity for about 240 traders and was designed to provide a more orderly environment for fish trading. But many women continue to sort and sell fish on the bare ground along the seafront, exposing their produce and trading activities to weather, plastic waste and other unhygienic conditions. Some traders also operate at the Shatta and La-Gbasetey beaches, where the environment is characterised by plastic waste and open defecation. For some traders, however, the shoreline remains preferable to the new facility. A 63-year-old fish seller, Ode Lokko, who said she has been in the business for 42 years, said the nature of fresh fish trading made an enclosed ma...