Studies of small-scalescale fisheries in Southern Africa Tor F. Næsje and Odd T. Sandlund Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) tor.naesje@nina.no
Long term projects in: Namibia (Since 1993) South Africa (Since 2000) Also projects in: Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique Freshwater, estuaries and marine
Namibia Inland fisheries Main partner: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Management goal: Sustainable development of inland fisheries es for the benefit e of local communities Marine fisheries feed the State, while freshwater fisheries feed the people
Fish populations multinational resources Rivers often form borders between states Namibia: Orange (South Africa), Kunene (Angola), Okavango (Angola), Zambezi (Zambia), Chobe (Botswana) Perennial Rivers flow through several countries Zambezi: Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania
AIM: Improve the knowledge of resources and fisheries to promote sustainable fisheries Studied The exploitation of the resources present fisheries The status of the resources Availability of the resources fish movements
And, baseline socioeconomic studies of riparian communities Stakeholders Demographics of fisherfolks f and fishing villages Post harvest activities Household studies Fish markets Fishing competition Management systems: informal (traditional), formal
The Zambezi River Fourth largest river system in Africa Length: 2,660 km Catchment area: 1.45 mill km 2 120 km in Namibia Flood-plains Status fish species Fisheries
Zambezi River fisheries 2002 2003: 242 surveys 7,850 km river examined 4,895 gears described Subsistence and small scale fisheries Gill nets 80% of all gears used, and most of the available gill nets in use Drag nets frequently used Very few women used gill nets No of gill nets low < 0.5 per km river Recreational fisheries No of fishing parties low 0.02 party/km river
Zambezi River fisheries No of fisherfolk similar in all three areas, lowest in May and peaking in October, numbers low, 0.1 to 1.2 persons per km Cross border fishing activity common in some areas Multi-activity livelihood, fishery important component
(From: John Purvis 2002)
Status of the fish resources Studied annually 1997 until today. Spring and autumn surveys with gill nets (22-150 mm) and 10 other sampling methods. 76 species recorded, 40 species caught in gill nets. 10 species constituted 96% of the total index of relative importance Most fish populations shared with neighboring countries Tragedy of the commons Fish resources are moderately impacted by human activities, but cannot sustain large increase in commercialization!
South Africa Behaviour and management of estuarine fishery species (Eastern Cape Province) (2003 2010) (Estuary) Effectiveness of the West Coast National Park in sustaining multi-species coastal fisheries (Western Cape) (2005 2010) (Coast)
The multi-species coastal fisheries in Saldanha Bay Main partners: Marine and Coastal Management Norwegian Institute for Nature Research South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity University of Cape Town SANParks
Saldanha Increasing pressure Population > 100,000000 Population growth rate: ~ 6 % Multipurpose fisheries Iron ore shipping Mussel production Sea weed production Recreation Tourism 115 km 2 Water sports Langebaan MPA Military base Marine protected area 4 km
Description of fisheries Commercial (line fishery) Up to 10 people on boat License for boat and number of crew, no quotas Small scale commercial Mullet gillnet fishery in MPA, 10 boats licensed Recreational boat Licensed and bag limit Subsistence and recreational shore Licensed and bag limit
35 30 25 Seasonal variation in effort Boats Average no of fishing boats per day Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06 Nov-06 Dec-06 Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 No data Easter Summer holi day 20 15 10 5 0 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Average fishing time: 5.1 hrs per boat Shore Averagee no of shore fishers No data 0 Average fishing time: 3.6 hrs per fisher Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06 Nov-06 Dec-06 Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07
Species composition in catches Steentjie 7% Boat catches White stumpnose 88 % Shore catches Steentjie 10% White stumpnose 85 % White stumpnose Steentjie Smoothhound shark Elf Hottentot Gurnard Spotted gulley shark Blacktail Skates Silver kob Klipvis St Joseph Snoek Striped steenbras Horse macrel
Annual catch of white stumpnose Recreational boat: 60000 fish = 41000 kg Commercial boat: 64000 fish = 43000 kg Shore fishers: 47000 fish = 31000 kg Annual catch: 116 tons
Stumpnose mortality Percen nt 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Age of white stumpnose in catches 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Age Can attain ca 20 yrs Reach 50 % maturity at 4 years Re elative fre equency 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 005 0.05 0 White stumpnose catch at age data 40% lost to natural causes and fishing per annum Instantaneous mortality rate 0.51 y -1 y = 3.2991e -0.5149x R 2 = 09349 0.9349 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Age
Future Limited stock of white stumpnose Present fisheries sustainable Exploitation will increase, uncertain how much more the stock can sustain User groups conflicts will arise MPA not enough to sustain increased fisheries Recreational vs commercial boat: CPUE fishers: 2.5 : 40.5 fish/day (1:16) CPUE boat: 7 : 348 fish/day (1:50) Implement catch regulation in commercial fishery?
NINA s main partners CLOSER Namibia Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) World Wildlife Fund South Africa Marine and Coastal Management South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity University of Cape Town SANParks Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) Norwegian Research Council THANK YOU!
Study methods Fisheries monitoring Movement behavior MPA Life history Spondyliosoma emarginatum