The resources of governments for promoting fishery technology are limited. Accurate priorities should therefore be set. The recommendations on which it seems development of fishery technology in African inland waters should be based are as follows:
In all cases, independently of the devising of more efficient and more selective fishing gear, fishery technology should promote more economically profitable fishing and bring about an improvement in the working conditions of fishermen.
In the still numerous parts of Africa where difficulties of transportation and marketing of fish hamper fishery development, it does not seem advisable to exaggerate fishery technology.
Aid to fishermen in procurement of material should be organized in all the types of environment studied. However, such work should always be done by taking into account the particular socio-economic situation in each of these environments.
Improving the efficiency of fishing gear and boats is only a priority matter in those environments where fisheries are already close to optimum productivity. Fishery technology then has as its main objective the maintenance of balanced fisheries.
In underfished environments, it is advisable above all to determine the deep causes of such underfishing. It may have to do with a low level of technology as far as fishing gear and boats are concerned, but most often it is due to socio-economic problems (difficulties with marketing and transportation or populations little inclined to fishing). Fishery development in underexploited areas, however, always calls for support in the field of gear and boat technology.
In environments where there is obvious overfishing of one or several species, fishery technology work should aim primarily at re-establishing the optimum level and balanced exploitation, especially by introducing more selective gear or gear better suited for catching underfished stocks.
Any new action in the field of fishery technology should be preceded by investigations into the human milieu (social structures, customs, customary fishery law, fishermen's income and needs). Such thorough studies should also enable the technologist to establish proper contact with fishermen.
Contact with fishermen is an essential factor in carrying out a development programme. First of all, they should be made aware of the programme's significance and that it would be to their benefit to group themselves in small associations (cooperatives for buying material and marketing fish, fishing communities). Such small associations are a good basis for introducing novel techniques which should enable them to produce and sell fish under optimum conditions.
Contact between technologists and fishermen can arise out of a training programme at two levels:
training of extension workers, and
training of fishermen through pilot centres, itinerant extension and support units, or fishermen “leaders”.
Lastly, it is more effective in technology to launch limited local programmes, but it should be realized that such action will have to be sustained for a long time. The impact of such programmes on the human milieu, resources and the environment would have to be systematically assessed.
