The first session of the Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries of the Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) was opened by the FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Africa, Mr N. Doumandji, at 10.00 hours on Monday, 16 June 1986, at the FAO Regional Office for Africa, Accra, Ghana.
Mr Doumandji welcomed the members of the Working Party on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Edouard Saouma, and of the FAO Regional Representative for Africa, Mr J.A.C. Davies. He drew the attention of the Working Party to the great importance of water for Africa as primary resource as well as a basis for fisheries. Fisheries in Africa are contributing a substantial amount of animal proteins for human consumption, in many countries up to 50%. This amount is even likely to increase through aquaculture activities, on the condition though that an adequate water quality can be guaranteed also in future.
It was very much regretted that Mr T.R. Odhiambo and the designated chairman of the Working Party, Mr S.G. Zabi, were unable to attend. Mr C. Biney was therefore invited to act as chairman for the first session of the Working Party. Mr Biney introduced the agenda (Annex I), welcomed the participants (listed in Annex II) and referred to the documents of the meeting (listed in Annex III).
The Technical Secretary, Mr H. Naeve, made reference to the request of the Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) at its Fourth Session that steps be taken to study pollution problems in Africa which could have negative effects on inland fisheries. Two reviews on the state of pollution of African inland waters had been prepared for East Africa and for West and Central Africa. Both reviews, which in the meantime had been endorsed by CIFA, were introduced by Mr Naeve. They summarize information collected in eleven countries (Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, The Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia) on sources of water pollution, such as sewage, industrial effluents and pesticide application, on environmental research carried out in these countries and on relevant national legislation. Pesticides and organic pollutants (such as sewage and fertilizers) with a high biological oxygen demand (BOD) were singled out as the major potential problems. These reviews have shown the need for cooperation at a regional level aiming at scientifically-sound water pollution control measures and at the maintenance of a water quality adequate to protect aquatic life and fisheries and related recommendations were made.
At its Sixth Session in Lusaka, Zambia, CIFA decided to establish a Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries to follow-up on these recommendations.
Mr Naeve explained to the Working Party that, at its first session, it was expected to:
finalize a strategy paper on scientific bases for pollution control in African inland waters;
propose future national and sub-regional research activities on subjects such as biological and chemical monitoring of rivers and lakes and comparative toxicity studies;
propose regional pilot projects on aquatic pollution, e.g. in some selected shared lakes.
Mr D. Calamari, Convenor of the Working Party on Water Quality Criteria of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC), introduced this draft document. The document had been circulated to scientists in Africa, and comments and proposals for changes received were also reported to the Working Party. The paper and comments received were thoroughly discussed. While agreeing with the general approach of the strategy proposed for pollution control measures, a number of amendments were included in the document to more fully reflect African needs and requirements. It was noted that the document provides a strategy for the control of toxic substances. Consequently, it was proposed that, at a later stage, a similar paper on the control of effluents with high BOD load should be prepared. The amended document is attached to this report as Annex IV. The Working Party requested the Secretariat to look into the possibility of publishing this paper in a scientific journal as soon as possible to give it a wide distribution.
Mr D. Calamari briefed the Working Party on the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) sponsored by UNDP, FAO, World Bank and WHO. About 18 000 km of rivers are regularly treated with pesticides to control the larvae of the black fly, Simulium damnosum, an insect which is the vector of Onchocerca volvulus, causing river blindness. The project receives guidance from an Ecological Group, and an extensive biological monitoring programme is operational since 1975 to check on changes in aquatic communities following pesticide applications.
The OCP environmental activities demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of biological monitoring of African rivers. Local personnel have been adequately trained, and a vast experience does now exist in a number of West African countries by which other countries in the region could eventually profit for the establishment of own biological monitoring programmes.
It was decided to include a chapter describing the OCP activities in the paper on scientific bases for pollution control in African inland waters as an example of African research work on aquatic pollution (Annex IV).
Mr D. Calamari introduced this subject. In recent years it became evident that traditional toxicity testing leading to the establishment of individual water quality criteria for each toxic substance was no longer an adequate strategy for water pollution control. The main reasons for this were: the need to protect the whole environment rather than a single compartment (water, soil, air or biota), the huge amount of testing work necessary for each substance and the ever-increasing number of potentially dangerous substances introduced in the environment. The new strategy, now under consideration in Europe and North America, is the Hazard Assessment approach. It is based on the principle that a substance can be harmful to, for example, fish only if it is (i) toxic to fish and (ii) finds its way to the water, thus exposing fish to its toxic properties. On the basis of a few parameters as physico-chemical characteristics of a given chemical and its production and emission data, the theoretical distribution in the different compartments of the environment can be predicted.
Using a number of relatively simple models, predicted environmental concentrations could also be calculated, and persistence, chemical or biological degradation, and possible accumulation of the substance in question can be ascertained and the results compared with toxicity data from the literature. This approach constitutes a screening procedure for chemicals entering the environment which will single out those which are most likely to pose pollution problems, without any need for chemical analyses or toxicity tests. Subsequently, only those substances which are potentially dangerous will have to be subject to toxicity tests and, in some cases, to more complex tests such as micro-ecosystem studies when data on potential exposure are really cause for concern.
It was therefore suggested that, under African conditions where basic ecotoxicological data are frequently unavailable, the Hazard Assessment approach be applied to identify environmental contaminants of primary concern. Consequently, the Hazard Assessment approach was included in the strategy on scientific bases for pollution control in African inland waters (Annex IV).
Within the framework of the UNEP Regional Seas Programme, four Action Plans which cover African countries have been signed, i.e. the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, West and Central African and East African Region Action Plans. Three Action Plans comprise projects on marine pollution monitoring and research projects with components on analyses of metals and organochlorines in biota, oil pollution monitoring on beaches and in coastal waters, and bacteriological quality control of bathing waters. MED POL (Mediterranean) is operational since 1975, WACAF 2 (West and Central Africa) since 1983 and EAF 6 (East Africa) is at the planning stage. Although these projects deal with marine and coastal pollution the structures created, which include analytical facilities, in a number of participating research centres are undoubtedly of high interest in relation to any research projects on pollution to be established under CIFA. Programmes and projects in the freshwater sector also are being executed by the UN system; the ONCHO Programme, already mentioned in Section 4, and the UNEP/WHO GEMS-Water project can be cited as examples.
The Working Party has identified three major future tasks: (1) to prepare reviews, (2) to generate research, and (3) to draft regional pilot studies.
Paper on control of pollution from organic loads
The paper on ‘Scientific Bases for Pollution Control in African Inland Waters’ deals mainly with toxic substances. Other pollutants, such as organic loads with high biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD, COD), suspended solids and nutrients, require separate attention and a specific strategy of their own. The Working Party therefore agreed to prepare a paper on this subject.
National reports on aquatic pollution
Considering the attention received by the two reports on the state of pollution in African inland waters, it would be useful if similar reports were prepared for countries not yet covered. The Working Party recommended that the CIFA focal points and interested scientists be invited to prepare national reports on the state of aquatic pollution following the structure of CIFA Occasional Paper No. 12. When a sufficient number of such national reports will be available, the publication of a third report on inland water pollution problems could be considered.
Ecotoxicological profiles
The need of acquiring basic data on the toxicity and persistence of the most widely-applied pesticides in Africa emerged during the discussion. The Working Party recommended therefore that an attempt be made to prepare a few ecotoxicological profiles of pesticides in order to test the practicality and usefulness of such data synopses.
Biological monitoring
Biological monitoring, together with basic chemical analyses, is a simple and useful technique for the evaluation of the state of pollution. The Working Party therefore recommended that comparative studies of species diversity (including fish) in lakes and rivers be initiated. African experience (see ONCHO Programme) is in hand, and African institutes and experts prepared to offer assistance and training were identified by the Working Party.
Comparative toxicology
The toxicity of chemical substances and effluents can be assessed by means of simple acute toxicity tests. A small project, using tilapia or other local species, should be set-up with the following objectives:
to provide baseline data for the classification of sources of water pollution (effluents) according to their potential hazard;
to carry out comparative toxicity tests with the aim of investigating the adaptability of data from temperate zones to African conditions.
A laboratory with adequate facilities has already manifested interest in carrying out such a project.
Chemical monitoring
The monitoring of concentrations of pesticides and metals in fish, sediments and other compartments of the aquatic environment is necessary for the assessment of their impact and fate. This could be linked with the screening of molecules, based on the Hazard Assessment approach. It was strongly recommended that cooperation be sought with African institutions which have already built up facilities for analyses of pesticides and heavy metals in the framework of the FAO/UNEP-sponsored project on monitoring of marine pollution in West and Central Africa (WACAF 2). A project similar to WACAF 2 (EAF 6) will soon be established in East Africa.
Subregional project on Lake Tanganyika
Limnological characteristics of Lake Tanganyika show scarce mixing and extremely high evaporation; this water body can therefore be considered as a ‘trap’ for pollutants and, consequently, an ecosystem at high risk. In addition, explorations for oil have been initiated in the lake area and this could also contribute to environmental degradation. Fishing is practised intensively on the lake and, in the framework of the activities of the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika, a long-term programme for fisheries management and development is envisaged. Limnological studies have been carried out by a Belgian team in the fifties and by an FAO/UNDP project in the early seventies. Analyses of chlorinated hydrocarbons in fish muscle showed, about ten years ago, abnormally high levels of such substances. The types and quantities of the pesticides applied may have changed after such a long time. Actually, some research is being carried out by the stations at Kigoma (Tanzania), Kivu (Zaire) and Bujumbura (Burundi); there is an exchange of results but no real coordination. A research project is therefore proposed to evaluate the impact of pollutants, particularly pesticides, on fisheries, the bioaccumulation of xenobiotic chemicals by fish and the possible risks related to human consumption. A second objective could be the evaluation of the permissible pollutant charges and regulations common to surrounding countries. The outline of the project could be as follows:
to collect basic data on all sources of pollution in the drainage basin;
to prepare a detailed catalogue of the pesticides used in terms of quantity, time and space;
to evaluate the theoretical distribution and the environmental fate of pesticides and other pollutants on the basis of the above reported information and literature data;
to review data on toxicity and the bioaccumulation potential of aquatic organisms as well as data on toxicity to man and on allowable daily intake;
to make an assessment of possible adverse effects on aquatic life deriving from oil exploration and exploitation.
A second, experimental, phase could follow, comprising:
sampling of the major rivers to evaluate the quality of inflowing waters;
a limnological study to gather basic data on the actual state and behaviour of the lake;
the analysis of selected samples of different species, especially those used for human consumption, collected over the entire lake area at different seasons;
toxicity tests performed on local species (early life stages, particularly) with selected pesticides.
Seminar on scientific bases for aquatic pollution management
The Hazard Assessment approach has been proposed as a rapid method of screening toxic substances which are potentially harmful to the aquatic environment. It is to be used gradually together with the traditional water quality criteria concept. Furthermore, GESAMP (IMO/FAO/Unesco/WMO/WHO/IAEA/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution) has recently proposed to use, in the prevention of aquatic pollution, the Environmental Capacity approach. It is based on the concept that each water body can receive a certain amount of waste without adverse effects (i.e. pollution) on the environment. It has been demonstrated that this capacity to receive waste can be quantified. In order to introduce these new concepts and methods to scientists and administrators in charge of aquatic pollution management and to verify the applicability of these approaches in Africa, the Working Party recommended that seminars on the scientific basis for aquatic pollution management be organized. A minimum of two such seminars (one in French and one in English), each of a duration of about two weeks, was considered necessary. They should consist of:
A theoretical introduction to modern approaches and methodologies to evaluate the hazard of toxic substances to the aquatic environment (Hazard Assessment approach), and to calculate permissible levels of waste discharges (Environmental Capacity concept);
scenarios to simulate the practical application of these approaches and methods;
case studies based, if possible, on real problem cases in Africa, preferably at the site of the seminar.
In order to facilitate the exchange of regional experience in the field of aquatic pollution research and, in particular, to present results of research projects carried out as part of the work programme agreed upon, it was considered essential to arrange for regular scientific meetings. The Working Party therefore proposed that CIFA consider ‘Aquatic Pollution Research and Management’ as a possible topic for a symposium to be held in connexion with one of its future sessions.
The Working Party reviewed the draft report of the session, amended it and approved it for submission to CIFA. Editorial changes were left to the Secretariat.
The members of the Working Party thanked the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa for hosting the first session and commented on the efficiency with which his staff had assisted the meeting. The Chairman, Mr C. Biney, closed the session on Friday, 20 June 1986 at 10.00 hours.
