Dam fishing, a prevalently female activity, is the most popular fishing technique used by Baka Pygmies, above all during dry seasons, when the water level is low and it is easier to drain the streams and find fish in the mud.

In groups of about twenty people, among whom there are girls and children, and with a sense of great cooperation pygmy women organize short expeditions towards water courses.

This fishing techinque consists of interrupting the course of a stream (generally a small one) by means of a barrage of trunks, branches, leaves and mud. The aim of this dam, built in an appropriate place, is to retain water and drain part of the stream.

Downstream from the barrage, where the water has flowed away, water-deprived fish can be found usually hidden under trunks or stones lying in the river bed.

Apart from fish of various species and dimensions, also shrimps and fresh-water crabs can be found. All the animals they catch are put in baskets and, back in the camp, they are cooked and shared by the group members.

Dam fishing is not the only traditional fishing method known by the Baka. Another technique is to dissolve natural toxic substances in a stretch of the stream, so that fish emerge to breathe and are hit by means of a machete.