ALCOM has been assisting the Fisheries Section of the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana, to implement the project “Development of small reservoir fisheries”.
The project's first phase started in 1989 when a socio-economic study on fish eating habits and fishing activities was undertaken in some villages around seven selected reservoirs (Sen, 1990).
The findings from this study led to the second phase, which was to assess species composition and relative abundance in the reservoirs and water quality. A team consisting of an ALCOM aquaculturist and Fisheries Section staff started with test-fishing in October 1990.
After one year of test fishing at Semarule reservoir, a Rapid Appraisal exercise was done around the reservoir, and community meetings and demonstrations were held.
This paper describes all ALCOM activities and results from Botswana, but focuses on the third phase starting 1992, which emphasized exploitation rather than assessment.
Many publications have been consulted. A few of them have been mentioned in the text. For details, see the reference list on Chapter 5.
