Chap 6 Fisheries
Chap 6 Fisheries
Chap 6 Fisheries
Fisheries
Contents
Brief Description of the Sector 6-1
Potential Environmental Impacts 6-3
Fish stocks on the Upper Shire River, the water body connecting Lake Malawi to Lake Malombe, are seriously
depleted. Catch of chambo, the primary fish stock, collapsed from 570 tons in 1983 to 96 tons in 1991. In Lake
Malombe, kumbuzi, a small fish making the bulk of the catch after chambo stocks plummeted, is also in decline.
The value of the total catch on the lake fell nearly 70 percent from 1983 to 1991. This has prevented thousands of
fishermen from earning a living and feeding their families.
The populations of both the river and the lake collapsed due to over-fishing by artisan fisherman. Because neither
water body was managed, the fishermen went from using 3-inch nets to half- and quarter-inch nets to catch
smaller and smaller fish. Seine fishing, introduced to catch the smaller fish, worsened the collapse by reducing
aquatic vegetation, removing nutrient-rich sediment and destroying nursery areas.
Malawi’s fisheries department instituted rules to conserve stocks, including regulating net mesh sizes, controlling
night fishing and closing fishing grounds for most of the year. These regulations were widely disregarded,
however, and the department lacked funds to enforce them.
A community-based management project sponsored by FAO and the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) was more successful at sustainably managing the water bodies. The project established beach village
committees who created rules and then policed them in partnership with the authorities. New fishermen were
obliged by local custom to report first to the local headman, making them easier to track. "There was one
fisherman … using a tiny mesh," recalled Michael Sambakunfi, the committee's secretary. "When members saw it
was actually a mosquito net, they grabbed it and burned it." FAO estimates that 90 to 95 percent of area
fishermen observe the committee rules.
Many families combine fishing with part- or full-time agriculture, growing mainly maize and groundnuts. Poor
people who only crew the boats, however, earn too little to afford land to farm. During the 1992–1995 drought, fish
stocks on Lake Malombe dropped again, and many people fenced off gardens on the lakebed to grow dry-season
vegetables and maize.
Experts believe the committees will have to further limit the number of boats allowed to fish in the waters to
achieve sustainability. However, jobs are difficult to find outside the fishing industry, and one of the dangers facing
the project is that people will fish illegally if they cannot secure extra money. GTZ, the World Bank, and
FAO/UNDP have all been actively promoting new industries and small businesses to help replace the income lost
from fishing. If adequate means of supporting and feeding the community are found, the committees hope to close
Lake Malombe to fishing for two years to allow fish populations to return.
Source: Alyanak, Leyla. FAO, 1996.
For Aquaculture
Pollution. Aquaculture systems cause pollution in a variety of ways:
• Pond water discharged into coastal areas or streams can adversely affect
sedimentation rates, the nutrient cycle, and dissolved oxygen (DO)
levels, and can raise sedimentation rates, accelerate the nutrient cycle
and lower dissolved oxygen levels. These changes can lead to
eutrophication, a state where a water body is polluted with excess
nutrients, which remove dissolved oxygen from the water and cause
1
Source: Pullin, Third World Aquaculture and the Environment (1989), as cited by Baluyut (1989).
• Choose sites that are near wild stock populations. Avoid introducing
exotic fish species into a body of water. Remember to consider predator
populations, existing ecosystem relationships and pathogen
concentrations.
Control of dissolved oxygen supply Mollusk Do not seed mollusks too closely together or they will generate anoxic
conditions (i.e., remove all oxygen from the water).
Operations
Overfeeding General Use high-quality feed.
Feed the right amounts at the right time.
Use feed pellets designed to float longer in the water column.
Instead of fishmeal, use meals made from terrestrial animal byproducts, plant
oilseeds and grain legumes; from yeast; or from cereal byproducts.
Finfish Consider culturing herbivorous fish that do not require feed inputs.
Overcrowding General Use lower stocking densities.
References
Aguilar-Manjarrez, J. and S.S. Nath (1998). A Strategic Reassessment of Fish Farming Potential in Africa.
CIFA Technical Paper No. 32. Rome, FAO. 170p. http://www.fao.org/docrep/W8522e/W8522E00.htm
Baluyut, Elvira (1989). Aquaculture Systems and Practices: A Selected Review. Published by the United
Nations Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/T8598E/t8598e00.htm
CIDA (1990). Summary version of UNEP Environmental Guidelines for Fish Farming.
Emerson, Craig 1999. Aquaculture Impacts on the Environment. Hot Topics Series, Cambridge Scientific
Abstracts. December. http://www.csa.com/hottopics/aquacult/overview.html
Environment Canada (2001). Environmental Assessment of Marine Finfish Aquaculture Projects: Guidelines
for Consideration of Environment Canada Expertise. Environmental Assessment Section, Pollution Prevention
Division, Environmental Protection Branch, Environment Canada, Atlantic Region. June.
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FAO (1999). “Inland Fisheries Are Under Increasing Threat From Environmental Degradation.” FAO Press
Release. Rome, Italy, March 24. http://www.fao.org/waicent/ois/press_ne/presseng/1999/pren9916.htm
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Millennium, Bangkok, Thailand, 20–25 February 2000. pp.73–81. NACA, Bangkok and FAO, Rome.
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Hishamunda, Nathanael, Maria Thomas et al. (1998). Small-scale Fish Farming in Rwanda: Economic
Characteristics. USAID, Pond dynamics/aquaculture collaborative research support program (PD/A CRSP)
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Machena, C. and J. Moehl (2001). “Sub-Saharan African Aquaculture: Regional Summary.” In R.P.
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Mittelmark, Jeff and D. Landkammer (1990). Design and Construction of Diversion Ponds for Aquaculture.
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Resources
• A Brief for Fisheries Policy Research in Developing Countries. M. Ahmed, C. Delgado and S. Sverdrup-
Jensen (1997). 16 p. ISBN 971-8709-59-2. Available at:
http://www.cgiar.org/iclarm/pubsof/newbooks.html#towards
Outcome of the International Consultation on Fisheries Policy Research in Developing Countries, jointly
organized by International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), the International
Food Policy Research Institute and the Institute for Fisheries Management and Coastal Community
Development, and held 3-5 June 1997 at the North Sea Centre, Hirtshals, Denmark. Forty-two scientists,
academicians and policymakers from developing countries, together with representatives from donor and
international organizations, contributed to the development of a set of recommendations that include: (1)
policy research priorities and an agenda for international and national research initiatives; and (2) guidelines
for improving the capacity of developing country institutions in fisheries’ policy research, including
enlargement of the scope for collaborative research.
• A Roadmap For the Future for Fisheries and Conservation. M.J. Williams, Ed. (1998). ICLARM Conf.
Proc. 56, 58 p. ISSN 0115-4435, ISBN 8709-94-0. Available at:
http://www.cgiar.org/iclarm/pubsof/newbooks.html#towards
These proceedings report on the fisheries session of the Marine and Coastal Workshop convened by IUCN, the
World Conservation Union, 17–18 October 1998. The workshop sought to present and review the state of the
art in marine and coastal conservation and sustainable development issues, and to discuss and develop
directions, priorities and the role of IUCN in addressing these issues. The seven papers in the book discuss
views from fisheries, conservation and resource management experts. The consensus expressed is that fisheries
conservation is becoming more complex: it was previously the domain of fishers, fisheries managers and
scientists, but now multipolar interests are concerned, including fishers and fisheries experts, consumers, local
communities, civil society and other economic sectors.
• Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. FAO. Available at:
http://www.fao.org/fi/agreem/codecond/ficonde.asp
This code sets out principles and international standards of behavior for responsible practices, with a view to
ensuring the effective conservation, management and development of living aquatic resources, with due
respect for ecosystems and biodiversity. The code recognizes the nutritional, economic, social, environmental
and cultural importance of fisheries, and the interests of all those concerned with the fisheries sector. The code
takes into account the biological characteristics of the resources and affected environment. It also addresses the
interests of consumers and other users. All those involved in fisheries are encouraged to apply the code and
give effect to it.
• Co-management in Small-Scale Fisheries. A Synthesis of Southern and West African Experiences.
(1998) Paper presented at IASCP conference in Vancouver, Canada, 9–14 June. In: Fisheries Co-