Efforts to conserve fish species

Efforts to conserve major fish species in Malawi's lakes and water systems remain a challenge, according to a senior official. The authorities have been implementing a combination of conservation efforts, including the protection of fish breeding areas, prohibiting the introduction of exotic species in water bodies, a closed season programme, restrictions on the size of fish caught, the gauge of fishing mesh and gear type, and the prohibition of poisoning and blasting. "Our efforts have been most effective in the southern Lake Chiuta, largely because the community has been involved in conservation efforts for generations," said Sloans Chimatiro, director of the department of fisheries. The authorities have concentrated on lakes Malawi, Malombe, Chilwa, Chiuta and the southern Shire river system. Lake Malawi covers 20 percent of the country's surface, according to the Malawi-German Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Project, and has the potential for the development of "a remarkable fishing industry". According to a recent state of the environment report, the fishing industry contributes about four percent to the country's gross national product and employs nearly 300,000 people. But, since 1990 the total catch landings of small-scale and artisanal fisheries declined from 70,858 mt a year to just 43,019 mt per year a decade later, the fisheries department noted. Conservation efforts have centred around the world famous Lake Malawi cichlids, popular in the aquarium fish trade, and 'chambo', a species of the tilapia family. Malawi's report to the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 highlighted the decline in the chambo trade and committed the government to restoring fish stocks to the maximum sustainable yield by 2015, Chimatiro said. Antonio Phiri owns a fishing net in Salima district in the Central Region of Malawi, where he has spent a large part of his 55 years fishing. "Catches from Lake Malawi these days are not the same as they were 10 to 15 years ago," he told IRIN. "These days one could go into the waters and come back with nothing - this does not mean that the fisherman does not know how to fish, but because there is no fish," he said. "Lack of fish stocks is making us poorer by the day - we can no longer find money to feed our families, nor buy our clothes." In the early 1980s, "fish was cheap because it was plentiful, but today the cost of a single chambo is US $2. In those days each chambo was selling at US 45 cents," he remarked. "The decline of the fisheries, and in particular the chambo fishery, is attributed to a number of factors. These include illegal fishing, mainly due to weak enforcement of regulations; habitat destruction; violation of closed seasons; catchments damage; and absence of clear property rights," Chimatiro said. "Closing the lake to fishermen is one such alternative," said Chimatiro. The closed season programme, which formally came into effect following enactment of the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1997, prohibits the use of small-mesh fishing nets and certain fishing gear. "Since the closed season is implemented during the peak breeding season of the major species of commercial value, it helps to protect the parent fish as well as the juveniles from fishing nets," said Chimatiro. "In the long term, closed season as a management strategy will ensure conservation of species which would otherwise have been endangered by uncontrolled fishing practices." However, conservationists allude to corrupt practices allegedly followed by village headmen, who allow fishermen to break the restrictions, such as fishing during the night. In addition, most of the fishing gear in use in Malawi's water bodies is illegal. A 1999 survey found all the beach seine nets - which hang vertically in the water by means of floats at the top and weights at the bottom - used in Lake Malawi had illegal mesh sizes, and 96 percent of the gill nets - which are suspended vertically in the water to trap fish by their gills - also had undersized mesh. "The use of illegal gear is attributed to poor enforcement. It is also a result of poor regulations by the Beach Village Committees (BVCs)," said Chimatiro. Malawi's Fisheries Conservation Act legislated the establishment of BVCs, headed in most cases by village chiefs, who have to ensure that the closed season is observed. The BVCs make their own by-laws and enforce them: the perpetrator can be brought before a court presided over by the chief. If convicted, fishermen can be fined and have their nets confiscated. However, traditional leaders blame the authorities. Chief Makanjiri, a traditional leader admitted, "Yes, there have been reports of some village headmen receiving bribes - some people were caught and paid for their actions. But I should also point out here that the Department of Fisheries is to blame for this - government officers are not enforcing the laws, and this gives us a problem."