11. For the duration of the workshop, the Office for Rural Development of Sélingué offered the use of its conference room located in the administrative complex of Kangaré together with laboratories, ponds and reservoirs located on the fish farm at the base of the dam. The conference room was prepared by the training team so that it could be used for theoretical sessions and as a computer workshop. Four desktop and three laptop computers were available. Discussions on theoretical aspects and computer-based sessions were held in the conference room. The ODRS fish farm was the main center for all practical work concerning fish tagging, post-operative behaviour checks and use of biotelemetry equipment. The monitoring of the behaviour of transmitter-tagged fish in their natural environment was undertaken within the framework of a test study in the Sélinguéni pond, on the left bank of the river Sankarani, downstream from the Sélingué dam.
12. On the second day of the workshop, Mr Hinna Haïdara, Assistant Director General of the ODRS based in Sélingué, kindly presented the structure of the Office for Rural Development of Sélingué and its responsibilities in terms of lake management. He mentioned the multiple importance of the Sélingué lake for the regional economy, i.e. electricity production, irrigation, fishing and improving the navigability of the River Niger. He stressed that the lake, with about 4 000 tonnes of fish produced each year, was the second most productive area in Mali, after the Niger inland delta. The socio-economic figures presented highlighted the importance of fishing for the sustainable livelihoods of the rural population of Sélingué.
