The present review focuses on the fisheries characteristics of the shared lakes of the Rift Valley. Eastern Africa is indeed endowed with numerous lakes, large and small, originating for the most part from the tectonic structure of the East African Rift. These lakes support very important fisheries which provide a livelihood to millions of people and contribute significantly to food supply, especially as a prime source of animal protein. As many of the lakes concerned serve as natural borders for the countries of Eastern Africa, cooperation in their joint exploitation is indispensable. This is especially the case for fisheries resources, if only because of the transboundary nature of fish stocks.
This document is intended for informational and analytical use by governmental and international bodies as well as individuals involved in the development and management of these shared fisheries resources. It complements a compilation of basic fisheries data (Gréboval and Fryd, 1993) recently prepared under the auspices of the FAO/UNDP Inland Fisheries Planning Project (IFIP). This data base was actually established by two of the co-authors and served as the main source of quantitative information for the preparation of this document. While emphasis is given here to basic fisheries characteristics, current and historical statistical data constitute the quantitative foundation upon which joint or coordinated fisheries policies and management programmes should be based.
Another important source of information used by the authors has been the Source Book for inland fisheries of Africa (Vanden Bossche and Bernacsek, 1990). The present document complements and updates this information base, while offering a more focused and analytical presentation for the sub-region.
More specifically, the fisheries under consideration are those of the following shared lakes: Albert, Chilwa, Chiuta, Cohoha, Edward/Mobutu, Kariba (Reservoir), Kivu, Malawi/Nyasa, Tanganyika, Turkana and Victoria. The fisheries resources of these lakes, albeit important, are limited in their natural productivity, location and distribution. After several decades of development efforts the rate of exploitation of these resources has increased significantly and, while some stocks remain largely underexploited, many fisheries are now showing definite signs of overexploitation. This is the case particularly for demersal and inshore stocks, commercially the most important resource base.
These conditions indicate that the fisheries under consideration are reaching a state of maturity, and as fisheries mature, management problems arise with increasing acuity. This situation implies a need for strengthened regional cooperation in monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS), and in the planning and implementation of appropriate fisheries management programmes.
In this context, the present document offers a handy compilation of major fisheries characteristics for the main shared lakes of the region, further allowing for an assessment of their respective importance and of their contribution to the fisheries sector of all the 11 countries concerned: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The first section of this document provides a general overview of inland fisheries in the region, with focus on basic fisheries and socio-economic indicators. It also contains a systematic review of major characteristics of the fisheries of the shared lakes under consideration.
Section 2 provides more specific information on a lake-by-lake basis. In that section, emphasis is placed on a graphic presentation and brief analysis of current and historical information on catch and fishing effort. Complementary information is presented in Section 3 for all 11 countries concerned.
It should be emphasized that the reliability of some elements of the data base used by the authors can easily be questioned. Indeed fisheries statistical systems in some of the countries concerned are still largely deficient. In others, the existence of a generally appropriate statistical system does not prevent the quality of fisheries statistics from being affected by numerous deficiencies in the collection and/or processing of basic data. Furthermore, different estimates are often available from alternative sources of information, or from the same source. To a large extent, this stems from periodic revisions of official estimates, themselves a sign of deficiency in fisheries statistics.
Because of the critical lack of reliable data and of the variability in methods used for establishing many estimates, this review is therefore open to improvement. It provides, however, a fairly accurate outlook on the fisheries under consideration and their evolution. The trends observed point to a growing need for effective fisheries management, and therefore for greater emphasis on improving available information bases. Much emphasis is now given in the region to stock assessment and to basic research for environmental protection. These programmes are important and represent a significant proportion of the external assistance provided to the region in support of fisheries development and management.
On the other hand, very little support is being provided for the improvement of fisheries statistics and related socio-economic information. The establishment of efficient fisheries monitoring and information systems is so crucial to fisheries management planning that it should, in the opinion of the authors, receive greater attention from the part of the countries concerned and much more support from donors.
