FISHIN BIOSTAT REPORT NO. 10

TRAVEL REPORT TO LAKES EDWARD/GEORGE AND ALBERT.
18–24 FEBRUARY 1990

BY

WADANYA L.D. JACKSON
SENIOR BIOLOGIST/STATISTICIAN

March, 1990

1. Introduction :

The Regional Project for Inland Fisheries Planning. Development and Management in Eastern/Central/Southern Africa (IFIP) based in Bujumbura (Burundi) had asked both the Uganda Department of Fisheries and the Project UGA/87/007 to assist Mr. G. Ssentongo and Ms. M. Maes, fisheries biologists of the IFIP Project, during their mission to Uganda.

The purpose of the mission was to collect up-to-date information on the fisheries of lakes Edward and Albert and discuss arrangements for the planned technical consultation between Zaire and Uganda on the fisheries of these two shared lakes.

Upon arrival in Uganda on the 14th February 1990, the IFIP team visited and briefed various dignitaries in Uganda, including the UNDP/FAO Representations, the Commissioner for Fisheries, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Animal Industry and Fisheries, FISHIN project UGA/87/007, etc.

The field trip to the two lakes started on the 18th February and ended on the 24th February 1990.

Travelling with the team were Dr. E. Reynolds, Socio-Economist Advisor of the FISHIN project and Mr. P. Mwene-Beyanga, Fisheries Officer (Planning unit) posted at the Ministry of Animal Industries and Fisheries Headquarters. A total of four landings were visited in the Lake Edward/George region during the three days spent in the area. For Lake Albert, the team covered only one landing on the southern shore. In Annexes I and II, a list of the mission team members and the persons met in the field are presented, respectively.

During interviews with fishermen, emphasis was laid on their perception of resource sustainability and response to fishing pressure and possible solutions. Information about fish flow and subsequent monetary returns were examined in as far as they affected the Ugandan fisherman, but not with respect to the fish trade between the two sister states.

2. Itinerary :

3. Observations at the Landings :

The major focus of our observations was put on the actual system of fisheries data collection, catches, fishing effort, fishing inputs, fish processing and marketing, etc.

For both areas of Lakes Edward/George and Albert, in 1989, the month of March is a period when fish catches began rising and peaking at the end of June. From July on, the catches levelled off until September. There was another gain from October to a second peak in November in the wet season. Fish catches were generally low in the months of January and February. The situation in these Western Uganda fisheries is depicted in Tables 1 to 3 & Fig. 1 to 3, showing the monthly fish catch recorded during 1989 for the whole of lake Edward, for Kasenyi landing on Lake George and for the Ntoroke fish landing complex on Lake Albert.

There is a close correlation between fish catch levels and the climatic regime in these areas : Lakes Edward and George, at an altitude of 914 metres above sea level differ very little from Lake Albert climatically although the latter is situated at an altitude of 619 metres. The climate is hot, with intense dry seasons, and rainfall being in the order of 35" (88.9 cm) to 40" (101.6 cm) falling on 80 to 100 days annually. December to February is a dry season; June to July is a marked dry season; during September to October there is high peak rainfall; April to May has low peak rainfall (Ugan. Dept. Lands & Surv., 1962).

3.1. Katwe Landing :

This landing, located on the north-east shore of Lake Edward has a total of 112 canoes. Fifty of these are the legal ones i.e licensed to operate at Katwe landing. The rest of them are transfer canoes from other landings in the region. There are 30 powered boats at this landing. On the basis of decreasing abundance, the catches contain Tilapia, Bagrus, Protopterus, Clarias and Barbus. In the earlier Biostat. Field Report No. 2 (Wadanya, 1989) a powered canoe's catch was found to be about 50 kg. per day or an average of 1.5 tons per day for the 30 powered boats. During this visit, the catch was still about 50 kg. per boat but was rising slightly according to the seasonality pattern.

Katwe fisheries is no longer lucrative as it was 10 years ago. Fishermen concede that dramatic changes have occurred as the fishing methods have gone on changing. Another noted point of concern is the increased fishing pressure on the lake by illegal entrants in the fisheries. Fishing effort in terms of number of nets by defined mesh sizes have been manipulated upward. The mesh size has dropped from the legal 5" and above to 4" and 4.5". The legal number of nets (10) to set per boat is no longer adhered to. This number has not only been doubled but increased many a time. In addition, the meshes are normally mounted twice as deep (52 meshes) instead of the legal depth of 26 meshes for a given net length of 90 metres.

3.2. Katungulu (Bushenyi) and Katungulu (Kasese) Landings :

These landings stride the Kazinga channel which links both lakes Edward and George. Fishing activity is done in quite small planked boats each manned by two people. Its fishery is mainly aimed at catching tilapia. Other species caught include : Bagrus, Protopterus and Clarias.

There are 30 non-motorised canoes at Katungulu (B) and 14 non-motorised ones at Katungulu (K). These 44 boats are fishing with twenty nets per boat. At Katungulu (B) seven boats have dual ownership unlike the rest which are singly owned. At Katungulu (K) all have single ownership.

Average catch at both landings is about 13.3 kg/boat per day. On this basis both adjacent landings with 44 canoes produce an average catch of 17.5 tons a month (Dept. Records, 1989).

It is only at these fish landings on the Kazinga channel where sizeable fish from 5" mesh size nets were observed although fishing is also being heavily done with 4.5" nets. While most of their fresh catch sells around Katungulu town and Kasese (50 miles away), a substantial amount is bought by cyclist fish mongers who take it round the rural villages.

During an earlier visit (Biostat. Field Report no. 2) Katungulu (B) was under administration of one enumerator. However, in the meantime the station has received a trained Fisheries Assistant to collect the statistical data.

3.3. Kasenyi landing :

This landing is situated on the south-west shore of Lake George and was visited to observe comparison with lake Edward catches since these two water systems are linked by the Kazinga Channel complex. There are 36 canoes, 10 of which belong to the defunct TUFMAC (The Uganda Fish Marketing Corporation).

Because most of the fishermen here have restarted to use 5" mesh sized nets, the catch is very low and now stands at 3 fish per such a net. However, fishing is generally done with 4.5" mesh size nets giving a catch of 25.5kg./boat/day when the common species of Tilapia, Bagrus, Clarias and Protopterus are combined. This gives a monthly average total catch of 27.6 tons for the landing (Dept. Records, 1989).

Most of this fish is smoked at the landing and taken twice a week to Kasese Market. The marketing of fish from this landing has generally become difficult since TUFMAC closed its operations at the landing in the late seventies.

The observation about the fisheries of Lake George by fishermen is that effective effort, expressed by number of canoes, has more than doubled in recent years. This is attributed to a large entry in the fishery by illegal fishermen who fish and land their catches at night.

3.4. Rwenshama :

This landing is situated on the south-east tip of Lake Edward. From 1989 records of the Fisheries Department, species abundance by catch per month was ranked as follows :

Tilapia 20 tons, Bagrus 32 tons, Barbus 2.2 tons, Clarias 3.2 tons, Protopterus 4.5 tons, Mormyrus 0.02 tons, Labeo 0.9 kg.

The total catch for a whole year is then close to 750 tons from 60 canoes. The landing legally has 40 canoes. The extra 20 are transfer canoes from other landings of the same lake system. The 40 canoes have single ownership and have consolidated their mainstay in fishing and related activities under the Rwenshama Fishing Company. This company organises most inputs for the fishermen and processors ranging from timber for boat repairs; petrol, fishing nets, salt to firewood for smoking fish. Smoked fish is sold in Kabale (Masaka District) and some near markets. The salted fish is basically for Bwera and inland Zaire markets.

3.5. Ntoroko Landing Complex :

This fish landing is located on the south-east shore of Lake Albert. It is one landing out of a complex of 9 other affiliated minor landings, namely : Ntoroko, Kanara, Songha-Kiyanja, Kamoga, Katanga, Songha-Uchaki, Rwangara-Rukwanzi, Katolingo and Mulango. It is administered by the Regional Fisheries Officer stationed in Fort Portal Town. In this region alone there are 53 minor lakes, the prominent one being Lake Saka which is linked to Lake George through River Mpanga. Ntoroko alone as a fishing village has over 3,000 inhabitants.

Lake Albert has about fourty two (42) fish species of which about twenty (20) are of commercial importance. Already a number of species are rare in southern Lake Albert : Cadwalladr (1966) observed that Worthington's survey in 1928 showed that the most abundant species in Lake Albert was Citharinus citharus but that in 1943, the heavy use of seine nets had reduced this species to negligible proportions. To date, it is not as yet a prominent species. However, in the middle and upper lake almost all the species are still present.

There are one hundred (100) canoes at Ntoroko alone of which 23 are transporters for both people and foodstuff including fish; the other 77 canoes are used for fishing. There are six (6) engines: 3 are for transport boats and the other 3 for fishing canoes.

A typical fishing boat uses up to 50 nets. These range from mesh sizes of 2" – 2.5" for Hydrocynus and Alestes; 4", 4.5", 5", 6" for Tilapia, Bagrus and Clarias; 7" – 8" for Nile Perch and Auchenoglanis.

The estimated catch per boat per day at the time of this visit was 100 kg. giving a total estimate of 231 tons per month. This figure is lower when compared to the official figure of the Fisheries Department of an average of 364.6 tons per month for Ntoroko Complex.

The landings are too numerous to be supervised by one Fisheries Assistant. There is under-reporting of the estimated catches which are submitted to headquarters since visits to other landings of this complex are very occasional. Examination of these figures shows lack of suitable raising factors for the number of fishing canoes as well as fishing days.

Ntoroko complex accounts for 42.3% of the total catch of Lake Albert and 57.2% of the total monetary value to the fishermen of the lake (Dept. Records, 1989).

Fish processing is mainly done by salting (99%), the remaining 1% by sundrying and smoking. Only one fishmonger is smoking fish, about 120 kg. per week. He takes the product to Fort Portal market once every week. Because Ntoroko is situated within a Game Reserve (Toro), firewood is restricted and this eliminates smoking as a major means of fish processing.

All salted fish goes to Zaire markets through Bwera market and Mpondwe custom post. One lorry load leaves the landing per week. The landing in general has 30 fish mongers. Half of this number buys fresh fish and salts it for selling at the landing. The other half salts and takes it to Bwera markets and Zaire.

4. Problems of Fishermen on Lakes Edward/George and L. Albert :

The fisheries in both lake systems of Edward/George and Lake Albert differ in the adopted fisheries management strategy : while the former is a controlled fishery, the latter is a free entry fishery. The common feature on both lakes Edward and L. Albert is that their resources are shared between Uganda and Zaire. The problems on Lake Edward between the Ugandan fishermen and their Zairean counterparts arise because of the strict management regulations on the Uganda side while there appears to be no management regulations on the Zairean side. On Lake Albert, both Uganda and Zairean fishermen may fish in common grounds. Still, while Uganda has management regulations for L. Albert, Zaire does not have any.

4.1. Local problems on Lakes Edward/George and Albert :

1. The fishermen at every landing complain of lack of cheap fishing gear. At present, the services of the Uganda Commercial Bank Rural Farmers Scheme are being used to acquire these gears. However, the prices are not stable and vary from time to time prohibiting acquisition by fishermen. The Uganda Commercial Bank charges 40% interest for any kind of services to the fisherman. This may be contributing to rampant net thefts reported by fishermen since many of them cannot pay back so much money.

2. Access roads to a number of landings have gone bad and this generally restricts transport of fish to distant markets where fish traders would make substantial gain to sustain their work.

3. Fishing activity in terms of the level of catch, particularly for Lake Edward/George and the Kazinga channel has declined and fishermen have to resort to using a larger number of nets contrary to law, employ illegal mesh sizes and apply illegal mounting of nets by 52 instead of the legal 26 meshes deep.

4. In the Lake Albert area, particularly Ntoroko, which is administered by the Fort Portal Regional Fisheries office, there is no fish-net supply agent. Most of their net supplies comes from Zaire.

5. All landings visited on the water systems of Lakes Edward/George and Albert are in National Park or Game Reserve areas. As such, supplies of fuel wood is greatly restricted to the extent that some fishermen lack wood to cook their food let alone smoking the fish.

6. Illegalities have increased on Lakes Edward/George. Unfortunately, the Fisheries Department, by lack of means, is not able to carry out effective controls.

7. As to the controlled fishery of Lake Edward, there should be a review of the effectiveness of the existing licensing system. Many traditional canoe owners have rampantly started transferring licences illegally. Where there have been legal changes of licence numbers, social conflicts have increased between former owners and later beneficiaries.

4.2. Regional conflicts on Lake Edward :

1. The Lake Edward fishermen advocate for adoption of a common system of management: number and size of nets, mesh sizes and fishing time with their Zairean counterparts, At the moment, Zaire fishermen use nets ranging from 3.5" – 4" and mostly catch immature fish. The Ugandan fishermen mostly use 4.5" – 5" nets and these mostly catch mature fish.

2. According to the fishermen, Lake Edward should be demarcated in the middle by putting markers as it had been in early seventies. As of now there is rampant intrusion by Zairean fishermen on the Ugandan side. They fish illegally and employ under-sized meshes in addition to using illegal net length.

5. Conclusions :

1. The controlled fisheries of lakes Edward/George and Kazinga Channel have declined in production in recent years, from 12000 tonnes in 1976 to 5552.5 tonnes in 1989. This drop has started having a serious socio-economic impact on the fishing community in this area.

2. The credibility of the present licensing system in the controlled fisheries of lakes Edward/George is now being disputed. Despite the increase in population, fishing has been in the domain of specific families who have held fishing licenses since the fisheries opened in the 1950s. The young generation now feel they must be given the chance to gain economic liberation by being licensed.

3. The decline of the road infrastructure in Uganda has made fishermongers of both lakes Edward/George and Albert to look toward the markets available in a neighbouring country. Thus the salting method of fish processing at fish landings has been tailored to the tastes of the foreign market.

4. Assistance to fishermen by availing fishing inputs needs to continue. At present, available inputs through Uganda Commercial Bank facilities are very expensive and after paying back the loan no tangible gain can be made.

5. The present controlled management strategy of the fisheries of lakes Edward/George now stands in opposition to the socio-economic demands in the region. Fishermen are demanding these controlled fisheries to be declared free entry.

6. Recommendations :

1. The effective management of the fisheries of lakes Edward/George complex and Albert must comply with biological rules. This calls for dialogue between Uganda and Zaire which share these stocks. What is crucial is maintaining fishable stocks in these shared waters, deriving optimum yield and allowing for stock recruitment and growth. A number of problems discussed arise because fishing has been done in travesty of the biological principles of management. A common system of management needs to be adopted: size of nets, mesh sizes, fishing seasons etc.

2. There is an urgent need for the Departments of Game and Fisheries to act in liaison so that the fishing communities in National Parks and Game Reserves are given the benefit of utilising their natural resources while at the same time preserving the ecosystem to which they are themselves vital components.

3. The socio-economic problems of the fisherfolk in both countries have to be tackled if any fisheries management strategy has to be successful : alternative income generating industries need to be proposed and implemented to create alternative/additional job opportunities and in this manner reduce pressure on fish resources.

References cited :

• Cadwalladr, D.A., J. Stoneman, 1966. Review of the fisheries of the Uganda Waters of Lake Albert. Supplementary Publication No. 3, East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organisation.

• Wadanya, J. 1989. Report on the Tour of Kichwamba Region: The Areas of Lakes George-Edward and Kazinga Channel Complex. Biostat Report 2, Fisheries Statistics and Information Systems Project UGA/87/007, UNDP/FOA.

• Anonymous, 1962. Ugan. Dept. Lands & Surv. 1962. Atlas of Uganda. Department of Lands and Surveys, Uganda: 83pp.

TABLE I: MONTHLY FISH CATCHES FOR THE LAKE EDWARD LANDINGS IN 1989 (tonnes)

SOURCE: Records of the Fisheries Department

FIG.1. FISH CATCHES FOR L. EDWARD, 1989

TABLE II: MONTHLY FISH PRODUCTION AT KASENYI LANDING (TONNES) - LAKE GEORGE 1989

SOURCE: Records of the Fisheries Department

FIG.2. FISH PRODUCTION AT KASENYI

TABLE III: FISH CATCHES, NTOROKO COMPLEX, LAKE ALBERT, 1989 (tonnes)*

SOURCE: Fisheries Department Records.
* Includes landings of Ntoroko, Kanara, Songa-Kiyanja, Kamoga, Katanga (Songa Uchaki), Rwangara, Rukwanzi, Katolingo, and Mulango.

FIG. 3. FISH PRODUCTION FROM NTOROKO

Annex I : Mission Team members:

Annex II: List of persons met in the field