Fishing for the Future

There is a fine line between bountiful fishing and overfishing. Once that line is crossed, it can be difficult – and sometimes even impossible – to rebound. For many years, the fish of the Zambezi River network have played a huge role in the local livelihoods. To ensure that fish are here to stay, AWF is helping locals to monitor fish catches along with maintaining a new sustainable fishing industry.

Fisheries along the Zambezi River and its tributaries play a huge part in the livelihoods of local people. In fact, the upper part of the river alone feeds 300,000 people. The sardine fishery on Lake Kariba yields more than 30,000 tons of fish annually, amounting to more than $55 million a year.

But, like all natural resources, overuse can ultimately take a toll. And, in the Zambezi River system, which spans eight nations, limited resource monitoring systems are in place to ensure sustainable use of the fisheries. AWF is helping to change that in hopes that fish will continue to be a mainstay of this region well into the future.

Communities that live in the Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia trans-frontier area rely on shared fishery resources as a significant source of living. The threat of resource degradation has been very high for years and has become a priority entry point for AWF’s program activities resulting in detailed resource inventories that established the status of the fish population and recommended best practice resource use for sustainability.

AWF created the Aquatic Resources Working Group (ARWG), a group of technical experts drawn from the respective fisheries departments in five countries where AWF works: Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Their priority was to gain a greater understanding of the fish that swim in the Zambezi River system as well as a clearer picture of the river system itself.

Specifically, the ARWG examined and documented migration patterns and home ranges for selected fish species in relation to habitat characteristics; recorded the effects of fluctuations in water levels, temperature changes and seasonality on fish migration behavior and breeding; documented cross-border fish movements; and much more.

The culmination of this research work is embodied in the Zambezi Heartland’s new conservation enterprise – the Ngwena Commercial Fishing Cooperative. To pilot sustainable use, AWF facilitated the establishment of this community fishing enterprise in the Chapoto Chiefdom of Mbire District on the Zimbabwean side of the trans-frontier area.

With a membership of 30 local community households, the Ngwena Fishing Cooperative underwent institutional capacity building, had a constitution developed, secured a fishing permit and trained its members in various entrepreneurial skills that included the application of viable fishing technologies, catch and financial record keeping, leadership and governance issues, as well as safety and first aid.

The Ngwena Fishing Cooperative will continue to implement best fishing practices, fishing gear, fishing grounds, organized business of catching and selling fish, and sustainable fish processing techniques. The fishing is done using recommended fishing gear, fishing from designated sites and leaves areas for breeding, as well as limiting fishing pressure to within levels that allow sustainability of the fish diversity.

AWF and the Ngwena Fishing Cooperative, through proper management, aim for the continued survival of endangered native fish species for the benefit of future generations and sustenance of viable populations of fish species.