The Sixth Session of the Committee for the Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) Sub-Committee for the Development and Management of the Fisheries of Lake Victoria was held in Jinja, Uganda from 10 to 13 February 1992.
The Session was attended by representative of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Observers were from UFFRO, other Uganda Government Offices, the Netherlands (IAC), UK (RRAG), Burundi and the USA (E. Africa Great Lakes Project). The list of Delegates and Observers is given in Appendix A of this report.
The Session was opened by the Honourable John Ojok Obwangamoi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. He emphasized that the region was undergoing a reawakening of international cooperation, and that Lake Victoria was an important part of it. Such cooperation was necessary given the mobile nature of the resources and the need to share research information. Additionally, free trade of fish products should be stimulated. He pointed out that there was need for enforcement of existing fishery legislation and he called attention to the threat to fisheries from water hyacinth.
Mr. N. Odero, Director of Fisheries (Kenya) in moving the vote of thanks endorsed the words of the Deputy Minister and called attention to the importance of the fishermen in the context of the management of the lake's resources.
Mr. Sichone, Chairman of the Sub-Committee and Director of Fisheries (Tanzania), welcomed the delegates and observers and called for the creation of an organization of the riparian states for the management of Lake Victoria's fisheries.
The delegates and observers were welcomed to Jinja by the Assistant District Administrator, Mr. Luzira.
Dr. W.Q.B. West, FAO Senior Regional Fisheries Officer and Secretary of CIFA gave the background on CIFA and the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Victoria.
Mr. Mulenga, representing the FAO Representative, Mr. Khalil, welcomed the delegates and observers on behalf of the FAO Director General, Dr. E. Saouma. He emphasized the need for cooperation in the management of the fisheries and called for concerted efforts in the eradication of the water hyacinth.
Mr. E.S. Kanyike, Commissioner for Fisheries (Uganda) and Mr. N. Odero Director of Fisheries (Kenya) were elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively. Mr. W. Kudhongania (Uganda) was elected Rapporteur and Messrs. Sichone (Tanzania) and Ochumba (Kenya) were elected Assistant Rapporteurs.
The Annotated Agenda and the Timetable were adopted as in Appendix B which also shows the titles of the papers presented.
The papers in this session were in the form of country overviews, or dealt with various aspects of the biology of the most commercially important fishes, their fisheries and prey species. This section very briefly summarizes the papers with the main emphasis on information that is new and relates to management since the last session of the Sub-Committee in September, 1989. The main papers and abstracts of other papers are presented in Appendix C.
The fish catch from Ugandan waters has stabilized around 120,000 t in the last three years. The 1991 catch was 129,000 t. The catch from Kenyan waters for 1991 was 186,000 t. The latest data available from Tanzanian waters was 205,000 t for 1989. Thus, total catch may have reached about 500,000 t in recent years.
One trend apparent from Uganda is that more fish are landed on the island areas than on the mainland. In Kenya there has been a marked change in the composition of the catch. In 1989 the Nile perch made up 54 %, Rastrineobola argentea made up 38% and the Nile tilapia made up 2%. In 1991 the same species made up 31%, 31% and 15%, respectively. In contrast the present composition in Tanzanian waters is about 65% Nile perch, 17% Rastrineobola argentea and 9% tilapias. Also, Caridina nilotica is now being fished in Kenyan waters and being used for animal feeds.
One implication for the future of the Nile perch fishery is that there appears to be an increasing amount of competition between fisheries on Rastrineobola argentea and Caridina nilotica and the Nile perch's use of these species as prey. Another implication is that the size at first reproduction of the Nile perch is decreasing and the condition factor is declining. Replenishment may be affected by a lower rate of egg production from smaller and less fecund fish.
Cannibalism in Nile perch could be beneficial in stabilizing populations. In some other species cannibalism serves to reduce the stocks of juveniles which results in better growth of the survivors. In the lake Victoria context, this could mean that predation on other species is reduced.
Fishing with illegal gears (beach seines and small-mesh gill-nets) captures the juveniles of both Nile perch and Nile tilapia. Studies have shown that 5 inch gillnets capture mostly mature Nile tilapia and some immature Nile perch. This suggests that 5 inches should be the minimum mesh size.
In the Rastrineobola argentea fishery there is a shift from 10 mm to 5 mm meshes. The latter captures immature individuals of this species. It is also the 5 mm mesh size that fishes Caridina nilotica. Therefore, it is felt that 10 mm mesh, fished offshore as a lampara net, should be adopted as the minimum. This would help to conserve the most important prey of Nile perch.
With regard to Nile tilapia, a closed season would not be a useful management measure because the fish reproduces all year round. As shown by the comparison of the 1989 and 1991 catches from Kenyan waters, the Nile tilapia increased from 2 to 15% of the catch.
A Nile perch and Nile tilapia tagging programme has been underway in Uganda. It shows that the individuals move long distances relatively rapidly. Growth can be estimated from the returns. Regional cooperation for the return of the tags is necessary for this programme.
Regarding the smaller-sized fishes such as Synodontis, it is felt that their contribution to yield is so small that no effort to develop special fisheries for them is warranted.
The lake environment is changing. There are three hypotheses to explain this. The first is increased nutrient inputs. Sources could be rainfall, agriculture, urban and industrial discharges. A second is a change in the region's climate which has affected the thermal stability of the lake. The third is the introduction of Nile perch and Nile tilapia and overfishing.
Three projects have been proposed to test these hypotheses and to acquire better information on the changes.
The result of these changes is increased algal biomass and reduced oxygen levels, even going to anoxia in bottom waters and in some cases, well into the water column. A herbivore that would physically cause locked-up bottom nutrients to be released into the water column could ameliorate the situation.
Regarding the timing of these changes, it is noted that there were changes in algae before the introduction of the Nile perch. Also, from measurements in the 1930s, 1950s and 1989 cyclopods had apparently increased while calanoids and cladocerans both apparently decreased. Similarly, dipteran aquatic larvae have increased in density. This could be due to decreases in insectivorous haplochromines.
Many affluent rivers are polluted. Many industries, and municipalities, do not treat their discharges. Therefore, there is the need to set standards for the discharges and to enforce them. Establishment of a natural fringe around the lake and river shorelines to filter and regulate inflows was suggested.
Another change is the introduction from the Kagera River system and subsequent proliferation of the water hyacinth. A recent ground survey along the Ugandan shoreline showed that the infestation is even more serious than indicated by the aerial survey. The ground survey also showed the characteristics of the habitats favoured by the water hyacinth. These were shallow waters, sheltered bays and baylets and muddy bottoms.
Two major recommendations came out of the water hyacinth study: Control the water hyacinth and undertake additional research. Among the research topics are nutrient relationships and interactions, biology and reproduction, biomass accumulation and the impact on the environment. It was also recommended that the abatement of the water hyacinth needed a regional approach.
Regarding water hyacinth control, an indigenous weevil may be a natural enemy, but this requires further investigation. For the moment, manual removal is recommended. Use of chemical and exotic biological controls needs to be approached with caution, and also an integrated chemical, mechanical and biological approach.
In Uganda there have been several technological advances in aquaculture, including monosex culture and use of predator-prey combinations; however, fish farming is still only at a subsistence level. In order to encourage commercial fish farming there is a need to develop and manufacture fish feeds and to determine optimum rates of stocking.
In Kenya much progress has been made in aquaculture in the lake basin. Ponds have been rehabilitated and new ones constructed. Fish farmers have been trained, seed production facilities established and yields have been increased substantially. Nevertheless, mass fingerling production, stocking density and feed production need to be better refined.
There are a number of marketing problems, many of which can be solved with government assistance. Among these are seasonality of demand, difficulty of access when fish are abundant, perishability of the product, low returns to fishermen, prices too high for the poorer consumers, lack of knowledge on the part of consumers of nutritional values and techniques for preparation and a general lack of infrastructure. Some of the problems are even more acute in the islands than on the mainland even though most of the catch now comes from the former in Ugandan waters.
Recommendations which cover most of these problems are to:
Encourage private importation of fishing inputs
Improve fish landing facilities, hygiene and rural infrastructure including better roads and island to mainland transport
Use ice more widely for fish preservation
Normalize international fish trade policy
Improve and modernize traditional fish processing methods
Promote research in the production and post-harvest sectors
Encourage fish processors to cater for local institutional markets
Extend fish inspection to locally marketed fish
Form cooperatives to stabilize fish prices and to secure low-cost inputs
Recognize that women play a significant role in the fishing industry and this should be taken into account in implementing all of the above recommendations
Undertake pricing and marketing policy
Research priorities for Lake Victoria were formulated by the riparian states as Phase 2 of the EEC-funded Lake Victoria Fisheries Project. These were endorsed by the Sub-Committee and are reproduced as Appendix D.
Dr. D. Greboval (Programme Coordinator, IFIP) summarized the activities undertaken by the FAO/UNDP IFIP project in support of the development and management of Lake Victoria's fisheries. These included two major activities: strengthening of the information base and research and the promotion of regional cooperation on management. Included in the former were a survey of fishing gear and the production of a fishing gear catalog, a census of fishing vessels and a socio-economic survey of boat owners in Kenya, a review of fishing inputs, a technical and economic evaluation of the use of lift nets for Rastrineobola argenta and a marketing survey in Tanzania.
In the field of regional cooperation and management there was a symposium on socio-economics of Lake Victoria fisheries and a statistics workshop. A major effort was on national management seminars in each of the three countries. This is to be followed by a regional management seminar late in 1992.
Mr. Ssentongo (IFIP Stock Assessment Biologist) presented a table summarizing management measures derived from the three national management seminars. The table is reproduced as Appendix E.
Discussion dealt with specific items of the table which are summarized as follows:
Item 15b This refers to water hyacinth. A regional effort is required because it comes from Rwanda. This is contemplated in the FAO project proposal soon to be finalized.
Mr. Sichone, the FAO/IFIP Consultant, presented a summary of his report on the establishment of a Lake Victoria Fisheries Commission. He noted that an earlier effort to form such an organization had failed for a number of reasons that have been taken into account in the present formulation. As a consequence of the failure, the three countries requested FAO to form a CIFA Lake Victoria Sub-Committee. However, the Sub-Committee has its own limitations of which the most serious is that it does not directly involve high-level decision makers.
The goal of the LVFC is to become an inter-governmental institution that is a binding decision-making body on both technical and policy matters. The necessary characteristics are that it is autonomous and robust, that it has sovereignty, but is without legal powers and does not enforce and surveil. Research and enforcement are to remain the responsibilities of national institutions, but the LVFC would receive research funds from external sources and disseminate them.
The LVFC is to have a board and a permanent secretariat located in the lake region. The board is to include permanent or principal secretaries responsible for fisheries administration as well as directors of fisheries and directors of fisheries research and head of zoology department of universities from each of the Riparian States. The functions of the boards are to lay down policies and principles, to appoint a secretary general and to approve the budget.
The secretariat is made up of a secretary general (for three years renewable) and other staff as the board deems necessary.
The follow-up mechanism to ensure the establishment of the LVFC is to appoint an ad hoc committee. The committee will, in turn, draw up a protocol and circulate it to the countries, devise a management system for the LVFC and estimate financing requirements.
The members of the ad hoc committee are to include the Lake Victoria Management Committee of the EEC Fisheries Project and the IFIP project.
IFIP, through its present consultancy in preparation for the regional management seminar and through legal assistance available to it at FAO Rome, will provide background information to the ad hoc committee. The Sub-Committee Secretariat in Rome will endeavour to assist the ad hoc committee financially through an arrangement of the usual technical consultations through a technical consultation.
A time limit of six months from now was set for the preparation of the LVFC document so as to coincide with the IFIP regional management seminar.
Financing, first and foremost, is to be the responsibility of the national governments with possible assistance from donors.
Kenya offered to host the next meeting at Kisumu and the timing will be arranged with the FAO for the Sub-Committee.
This report with all its recommendations and Annexes was adopted by the Sixth Session of the Committee for the Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) Sub-Committee for the Development and Management of the Fisheries of Lake Victoria on the 13 February 1992 at Jinja (Uganda).
