Title: Coordination, Collaboration and Training in Fishery Resources Evaluation and Fishery Statistics in the IFIP Southern Sector
I.. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE
The general development objective is the more judicious and effective exploitation of the region's lake fishery resources. The target fisheries are those of Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi, Mweru, Kariba and Cahora Bassa and Rukwa, but the project can extend its activities throughout the IFIP area.
II.. IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES
III.. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi, Mweru, Kariba, Rukwa and Cahora Bassa are very important sources of animal protein for the people of Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Inadequate management of fisheries has resulted in food and or economic losses through the over-exploitation of some inshore stocks and through the under-harvesting of other resources. Taken over all of the lakes, potential catch is about 500 000 tonnes, which corresponds to about 2.5 times the actual catch Therefore, to make an effort to realize the potential is well justified, especially as there is a relative stagnation of fish production in all the countries covered by the project.
IV.. CONSTRAINTS TO RATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF FISHERIES
Previous national-level fishery management and development efforts on the shared lakes often have had limited impact because of a lack of lake-wide knowledge about the resources and their fluctuations as well as unavailability, or lack of comparability, of fishery statistics. Underlying these problems has been a lack of mechanisms for coordination and collaboration in applied research and information sharing.
V.. PROJECT ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION IN RESOURCE EVALUATIONS AND STATISTICS
The project will build on and expand the linkages already developed by IFIP with national and sub-regional projects, institutions and inter-state organizations. New activities, those not already specified in the IFIP project framework, will be undertaken in the IFIP southern sector, but they can be extended throughout the IFIP project area.
The primary vehicles to promote collaboration and coordination will be workshops, technical consultations and training courses. Specific activities are:
the standardization of stock assessment methods and statistical reporting
coordination of applied biological research on commercially important species
promotion of the shared acquisition and interpretation of remotely sensed data for fishery resources evaluations
increasing awareness of the need to maintain the quality of the aquatic environment for fisheries
training in fishery statistics with the emphasis on redesign for harmonization
promoting the wider use of hydroacoustics in the lakes of the region and regional training in hydroacoustics
Compilation, synthesis and dissemination of resource evaluation techniques and statistical methods
VI. ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND MAIN INPUTS
This project is an offshoot of IFIP, but it will be within the administrative framework of IFIP and and it will be coordinated by it. Co-financing will be employed for the project's operation, but the activities shown above will be covered entirely by this project through a trust fund.
The key staff member is a biologist for a duration two years in the preliminary phase. Funding will also be provided to support training activities and operational cost.
