COUNTRY FILES (Contd.)

LAKE TURKANA (RUDOLF)
(International water)

* Beadle, 1932
** Talling & Talling, 1965

Fisheries data
No. of fish species: 37 (Greenwood, 1964)
Total annual catch and effort:

in Kenya: (1967–1986: Stat.Bull., Fish.Dept., Govt. of Kenya)

in Ethiopia: no data available; the catch, if any, is expected to be extremely low, as the Ethiopian waters cover a minute area of Lake Turkana.

Potential annual yield: (Kenya + Ethiopia waters)
                                      20 000 t (Balarin, 1985a)
                                      50 000–160 000 t (FAO/UNDP, 1966)
                                        5 000–10 000 t (Lake Turkana Investigation Team, 1975)
                          Note: Overfishing of tilapia breeding grounds is suspected (Coche & Balarin, 1982)

Specific reference: NORAD, 1980, 1983a, b.

LAKE ZIWAY (= ZWAI, ZWEI)

Total annual catch and effort:

Potential annual yield:
3 000 t/yr (69 kg/ha/yr) (FAO/UNDP, 1982)
2 000 t/yr (EEC project, 1979–84)
6 680 t/yr (154 kg/ha/yr) based on MEI (Welcomme, 1979).

AWASH RIVER

BLUE NILE RIVER (= ABBAY RIVER)
(International water)

GANALE DORYA/JUBA RIVER
(International water)

SHABALE/SCEBELI RIVER
(International water)

SOBAT RIVER
(International water)

ABARDA RESERVOIR

FINCHA RESERVOIR

KOKA RESERVOIR

LEGADADI RESERVOIR

ZULA RESERVOIR

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aubray, 1975
Balarin, 1986
Beadle, 1932
Bini, 1940
Boulenger, 1907
CSO, 1980
FAO, 1984
FAO/UNDP, 1982
Feyissa, 1983
Gamachu, 1977
Gasse, 1987
Giudicelli, 1984
Grabham & Black, 1925
Greenwood, 1964
IDET-CEGOS, 1979
Khan, 1983
Loffredo & Maldura, 1941
Meskal, 1974; 1975; 1976
Tallin, 1957
Talling & Talling, 1965
Tedla, 1973
Tedla & Meskal, 1981
Welcomme, 1972; 1979

LIBYA

1. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Libya (with a surface area of 1 759 540 km²) consists almost entirely of desert plateau except for a narrow cultivated coastal strip.

Summer temperatures in the interior are intense. The coastal strip is cooler and more humid, with rains occurring from December to February.

The economy is based on oil export. There are several desert irrigation projects and most of the water used is derived from groundwater sources. There are no perennial rivers and the rainfall patterns result in both flash floods and severe drought being common.

2. HYDROGRAPHY

2.1 Lakes

There are only a few small saline desert lakes.

2.2 Rivers, Floodplains and Swamps

Only short seasonal rivers.

2.3 Reservoirs

Two small impoundments: Wadi ghan (0.021 km²) and Wadi Zart (2.94 km²).

2.4 Coastal Lagoons

There is no true inland lagoon of any significant size. Farwa Lagoon, described in Lemoalle (1987), is widely open to the sea (salinity over 40 ‰) and cannot, therefore, be included in the inland waters.

2.5 Aquaculture

There is no aquaculture in Libya (Vincke, 1989, pers.comm.).

3. FISHERY PRODUCTION/POTENTIAL

3.1 Fish production and per caput supply (see Table 1, p.92)

3.2 Inland catch range and potential yield

No information available for Wadi Ghan or Wadi Zart Reservoirs.

Table 1. FISH PRODUCTION AND PER CAPUT SUPPLY - Libya, 1970–1987

¹ Source: FAO
² Source: FAO Fisheries Department FISHDAB
³ No significative inland capture
⁴ No aquaculture in Libya (Vincke, 1989, pers.comm.)
⁵ Marine exports in 1983 were 856 t; exports for 1980–1982 were nil.

4. STATE OF THE FISHERY

4.1 Yield

Numerous pools, springs and wells are used as water supply, but there is not, and cannot be, any significant fishing activity. Few fish can be found: native (Clarias lazera, Barbus deserti and Hemichromis bimaculatus) or introduced (Gambusia sp). See Dumont (1987) for data concerning the wetlands of the Libyan desert.

There appear to be no significant inland fisheries in Libya.

4.2 Factors influencing yield

Extremely low rainfall.

4.3 Future development possibilities

Some minor development should be possible in the two impoundments.

Fig. 1. MAP OF LIBYA

5. KEY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dumont, 1987 (Libyan desert)

6. WATER BODIES DIRECTORY

LAKE GABR AOUN

WADI GHAN RESERVOIR

WADI ZART RESERVOIR

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dumont, 1987
Lemoalle, 1987

MALI

1. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE (Welcomme, 1979)

Mali has a surface area of 1 240 000 km². The northern part of the country lies within the Sahara Desert and is essentially flat with occasional rocky outcrops. The southern part of the country is in the Sahel and is mostly low-lying rolling savanna.

The desertic climate of the north (hot, dry with virtually no rainfall) gives way to a Sahelian climate south of Timbuktu. There is slightly greater seasonal variation in temperature and a single rainy season which lasts from April to October in Bamako.

Most of the country is arid or desertic and is only sparsely inhabited. The major concentration of people is along the fertile Niger River Valley and in the well-watered southern and eastern parts of the country. Small-scale agriculture is widely practised, although the Niger Valley is used increasingly for intensive rice culture; to this end the flood control barrages of Markala and Selinguè were built to regulate flows and provide for irrigation. Outside the main irrigation areas floating rice is cultivated at a subsistence level all over the Niger floodplain.

2. HYDROGRAPHY (adapted from Cliss, 1977; Welcomme, 1979; and Deceuninck, 1989)

2.1 Lakes

Twenty-three main lakes (surface area: circa 2 450–3 500 km²) as well as several hundred smaller ones occur on the central delta/floodplain of the Niger River. Data concerning the 23 main lakes are given in Table 3 under entry “Niger River”). There is also the small isolated Lake Gossi in the southeast.

2.2 Rivers, Floodplains and Swamps (see Figs. 1, 2 and Table 3)

The Niger River and its tributaries (the Baoulè and Bagoye, which unite to form the Bani) are the major arteries of Mali. Apart from this river system there are a few headwaters of the Senegal River, of which the Bafing and Bakoye are the most important. In Mali, the Niger River consists of 3 000 km of major channels, whereas the rivers of the Senegal system total about 1 400 km. The Niger River forms a large floodplain between the Markalla Barrage at Sansanding and the Rocky Narrows at Timbuktu. This plain, the Central Delta of the Niger, effectively comprises two portions. The southern portion consists of a vast area of floating meadows during the flood, whereas north of Laki Debo the river breaks down into a number of anastomosing channels meandering through sandy beds interspersed with rocky ridges. In this region there are several floodplain lakes. The total area flooded at high water is about 20 000–30 000 km², and some 3 500–3 877 km² remain at low water (see Table 3).

2.3 Reservoirs

The Selinguè Dam has created a reservoir of 409 km² near the capital, Bamako. A second reservoir, the Manantali, built on the Bafing River covers about 600 km². These two reservoirs are used as electric power stations. The Markala Dam, closed in 1946, creates another reservoir on the Niger River, and is used for the irrigation of two channels (Sahel and Macina).

2.4 Coastal Lagoons

None; Mali is landlocked.

2.5 Aquaculture

The following estimate of aquaculture production units in 1985 is given by Vincke (1989, pers.comm.):

Breeding centres: 1 (surface area: 1.3 ha);
Family-type ponds: 16 (surface area: 1.0 ha).

3. FISHERY PRODUCTION/POTENTIAL

3.1 Fish production and per caput supply

Table 1. FISH PRODUCTION AND PER CAPUT SUPPLY - Mali, 1970–1987

¹ Source: FAO
² Source: FAO Fisheries Department FISHDAB
³ No aquaculture in the 1970's (Deceuninck, 1989)
⁴ - = data not available.
⁵ Vincke, 1989, pers.comm.
⁶ From 1980 to 1983, exports of dried fish were as follows: (in equivalent fresh weights, assuming fresh weight = 3.5 × dry weight) 1980: 7 396 t; 1981: 4 330 t; 1982: 4 445 t; 1983: 1 904 t.
⁷ Alternative statistics: catches from the Central Delta as estimated by Cliss (1977):
1970 110 000 t
1971   90 000 t
1972   80 000 t
1973   85 000 t
1974   75 000 t
1975   90 000 t
1976 110 000 t

Fig. 1. MAP OF MALI

3.2 Inland catch range and potential yield

Table 2. INLAND CATCH RANGE AND POTENTIAL YIELD

Sources: * Deceuninck, 1989, CILSS, 1977
           ** Welcomme, 1979

4. STATE OF THE FISHERY

4.1 Yield

There are clear indications of the general drop in fish production resulting from the altered climatic patterns following the Sahelian drought in 1972–74. Before that, the yield from the delta appeared relatively stable at 103 887 ± 6 198 tons. After 1972 there was a rapid lowering (110 000 t in 1970 vs. 75 000 t in 1974) of yield corresponding to the two particularly dry years, but a new equilibrium appeared to have been reached from 1975 to 1980, with catches oscillating around a mean of 90 000 tons.

The droughts in the 1980's resulted in an even more severe decline in total catch (see Table 1).

It is estimated that about 90% of the catch originates from the Central Delta waters, while 10% comes from the river network (i.e., Senegal River).

Between 40 000 and 54 000 fishermen operate in Mali, using about 9 000 dugout canoes and 70 000 fishing gear, fishing about 2.5 t fish/fisherman/year (Deceuninck, 1989).

According to Daget, 40% of the catch is smoked, 30% is dried, and 30% is sold fresh or directly consumed by the fishermen.

Vincke (1989, pers.comm.) gives the following figures (t) for aquaculture production from 1982 to 1987:

4.2 Factors influencing yield

Being a flood fishery, the catch from the Central Delta is influenced largely by the state of flooding in the river. There are, therefore, rather large variations in catch. During the recent droughts yields fell rapidly and have remained at a new but lower level ever since (Welcomme, 1979).

As smoking accounts for 40% of the preservation of the fish, the increasing lack of wood is another constraint to the fishery development.

4.3 Future development possibilities (adapted from Welcomme, 1979, and Deceuninck, 1989)

The rapid fall in catch in response to the successive Sahelian droughts indicates that the fish stock of the Central Delta are not far from over-exploitation. However, in the event of consecutive “normal” flood years, slight increases in catch could be anticipated from Mali, although it is to be doubted that production from the Central Delta will ever exceed 150 000 t.

Other resources remain, and it is thought that Salinguè Reservoir adds a further 2–3 000 t per year; Manantali, eventually, should be about the same, or slightly more.

The losses registered in the fishery can be compensated by the development of aquaculture, particularly favoured by the hydrographic man-made network (i.e. reservoirs and irrigation canals) and by the recent (1977–78) conscientiousness of the government concerning the capacity of aquaculture.

5. KEY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Deceuninck, 1989
Dumont, 1987 (Central Delta)

Fig. 2. THE CENTRAL DELTA OF MALI
(Orstom, 1988)

6. WATER BODIES DIRECTORY

LAKE GOSSI

BAOULE/BAGOE/BANI RIVER (International water)

NIGER RIVER AND CENTRAL DELTA
(International water)

Area of water:

Table 3. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA REGARDING 23 MAIN CENTRAL DELTA/FLOODPLAIN LAKES
(after CLISS, 1977 and Welcomme, 1972, 1979)

Table 4. IONIC COMPOSITION IN THE MAIN CENTRAL DELTA LAKES
(in meq/l) (Dumont, 1987)

Fisheries data
No. of fish species: 135 (Daget, 1954)
No. of fishermen in Mali:

  1 000 - upper Niger River
54 000 - central delta (in 1975)

No. of boats in Mali: 8 250 on central delta (in 1975)
Total annual catch in Mali:

Central Delta (floodplain plus main lakes)

Fig. 3. RIVERS AND LAKES OF THE NIGER-BENUE SYSTEM
(Welcomme, 1972)

Central Delta (floodplain plus main lakes) (after CILSS, 1977)

SENEGAL RIVER
(International water)

* Livingston, 1963
** Reitzer, 1971

Fisheries data
No. of fish species: 54 (in Baoule and Bakoye Rivers) (Daget, 1961)
No. of fishermen in Mali: 400 (200 full time; 200 occasional)
Total annual catch in Mali: 2 000 t

MANANTALI RESERVOIR

SELINGUE RESERVOIR

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

CILSS, 1977
Daget, 1954; 1957; 1961
Deceuninck, 1989
Dumont, 1987
FAO/UN, 1962; 1970; 1971
Livingston, 1963
Orstom, 1988
Raimondo, 1975
Reitzer, 1971
Welcomme, 1972; 1979; 1985

MAURITANIA

1. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE (Welcomme, 1979)

Mauritania (surface area 1 030 400 km²) can be divided into three distinct zones:

1. a narrow southern belt along the Senegal River Valley which is relatively well vegetated;
2. an intermediate central belt of broad sandy plains and dunes fixed with scrub grasses; and
3. a northern desertic belt of rocky plateaus and sand seas.

The climate is extremely hot and dry with very little rainfall, which is confined to the south between July and August.

Mauritania is mainly occupied by nomadic peoples. Settled agriculture is confined to the valley of the Senegal River.

2. HYDROGRAPHY

2.1 Lakes (Welcomme, 1979, and additions)

There are several lakes associated with the Senegal Floodplain system. These include Lake Rkiz (area of 12 km² at high water) and Lake Iianbrank (area of circa 30 km²). Lake Aleg is a small saline lake in the interior.

2.2 Rivers, Floodplains and Swamps (Welcomme, 1979, and additions)

The only permanent rivers in the country are the Senegal, which forms the border with the Republic of Senegal for over 600 km, and the lower reaches of its tributary, the Gorgol, which drains the Massif de l'Assaba. Another tributary, the Garfa, is seasonal.

2.3 Reservoirs

There is one important reservoir: Foum-Gleita.

2.4 Coastal Lagoons

There is one important lagoon/swamp: Toumbos.

2.5 Aquaculture

There is no aquaculture in Mauritania (Vincke, 1989, pers. comm.).

3. FISHERY PRODUCTION/POTENTIAL

3.1 Fish production and per caput supply

(See Table 1)

Table 1. FISH PRODUCTION AND PER CAPUT SUPPLY - Mauritania, 1970–1987

¹ Source: FAO
² Source: FAO Fisheries Department FISHDAB
³ No aquaculture in Mauritania (Vincke, 1989, pers.comm.)
⁴ From 1980 to 1983, nominal marine exports were as follows:
1980: 77 484 t; 1981: 143 375 t; 1982: 179 871 t; 1983: 312 119 t.
Most of this was caught by foreign vessels operating in Mauritanian waters. Exports from the Mauritanian fleet's catches and landings by foreign vessels are unknown.
⁵ Most of the fish being exported, the “nominal consumer supply” data for marine capture do not reflect the reality, and are highly overestimated.

3.2 Inland catch range and potential yield

Table 2.

Fig. 1. MAP OF MAURITANIA

4. STATE OF THE FISHERY (Welcomme, 1979)

4.1 Yield

The nominal catch figures (section 3.1) do not represent the true situation of the catch, although as a mean figure they are probably reasonable. Estimates have been made that between 13 000 and 15 000 t of fish are captured each year from the Mauritanian waters of the Senegal River. During the Sahelian drought catches fell considerably on the Senegal side of the river; there is every reason to believe that the same happened in Mauritanian waters.

4.2 Factors influencing yield

Losses have occurred through hydrological management of the area. Lake Rkiz, for instance, produced about 1 200 t/yr of fish up to 1959, but more recently drainage of the lake for irrigation has resulted in its remaining dry for five months of the year. As a result, the fish catch has fallen to 350 t/yr.

4.3 Future development possibilities

Further losses can be anticipated as irrigated agriculture spreads in the area. The projected dams on the upper tributaries of the Senegal River will bring the floods under almost complete control. As most of the fisheries depend on the annual flood cycle, the disappearance of a large part of the stock can be anticipated, with a resulting drop in catch.

5. KEY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Western Mauritania: Dumont, 1987

6. WATER BODIES DIRECTORY

LAKE IIANBRANK

LAKE RKIZ

SENEGAL RIVER
(International water)

Fisheries data
No. of fish species: 54 in Baoulè and Bakoye Rivers (Daget, 1961)

Total annual catch and effort: in Mauritania

Table 3. Inland fisheries productions before (normal year) and after (1987) the drought (Frenoux, 1988)

FOUM-GLEITA RESERVOIR

TOUMBOS LAGOON

7. Bibliography

Daget, 1961
Dumont, 1987
Frenoux, 1988
Livingston, 1963
Reitzer, 1971
Welcomme, 1972; 1979