1. The Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika of the Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) held its Session from 14 to 19 October 1993 in Lusaka, Zambia. The Session was attended by representatives from the four Member Nations of the Sub-Committee: Burundi, Tanzania, Zaire and Zambia; representatives from UNDP and observers from Finland, the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States (PTA) and the South African Development Community (SADC). The list of participants is given in Appendix C.
2. The Director of Fisheries of Zambia, Mr. H.G. Mudenda, welcomed all participants and honourable guests. Mr. R. Kanyaru, Director of Fisheries of Burundi, in his function as Chairman of the First LTR Joint Meeting of the Coordination and International Scientific Committees and the outgoing Chairman of the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika, thanked the Government of Zambia and the Department of Fisheries for hosting the Second LTR Joint Meeting and the Sixth Session of the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika in their country. He observed that the two joint meetings were complementary.
3. The FAO Representative in Zambia, Mr. George K. Mburathi, welcomed the members of the Committees on behalf of Mr Edouard Saouma, Director-General of FAO, and Dr. W. Krone, Assistant Director-General a.i. of the FAO Fisheries Department. He thanked the Government of Zambia for hosting the meetings, held in conjunction with the Sixth Session of the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika. He stressed the need and importance of coordination among the countries bordering the lake for optimum fisheries management and environmental protection of the shared lake resources, and invited the assistance of the international community to enhance such collaboration.
4. The Hon. S. Zukas, Minister of Agriculture Food and Fisheries welcomed all delegates, representatives of UNDP, Observers from Finland, PTA and SADC. He praised the cost-effectiveness and usefulness of having combined the meetings of the Project and the CIFA Sub-Committee for Lake Tanganyika. Many international symposia were taking place on the need to preserve the environment and the bio-diversity of Lake Tanganyika. This was an indication of the growing interest of the international community. The delegates were invited to pay due attention to fisheries management to ensure the continued availability of an important source of food and employment, without forgetting the interests of the artisanal fishermen. The policy measures recently introduced in Zambia would no doubt facilitate the task. Joint efforts in the implementation of studies and enforcement measures were an important step towards the ultimate aim of easing pressure on the fisheries through protection of the lake environment and fishery resources. The speech of the Minister is given in Appendix D.
5. Mr. J.J. Kambona, Chief, International Institutions and Liaison Service, Fishery Policy and Planning Division of the FAO Fisheries Department, in addressing the delegates, stressed the importance of regional collaboration and harmonization of management measures for the fisheries of Lake Tanganyika.
6. He underscored the need for the Sub-Committee to give its full support to the regional project on Research for the Management of the Fisheries of Lake Tanganyika. He called upon the Members of the Committee to consider the establishment of a permanent institution to take over the work of scientific research upon termination of the regional project. In view of the importance of cooperation in the management of shared aquatic resources he invited the Members to give very serious thought to the establishment of an inter-governmental Fisheries Commission to undertake this work.
7. Mr. H.G. Mudenda, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Zambia, was elected Chairman and Mr T. Maembe, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment, Tanzania, was elected Vice-Chairman.
8. The agenda was adopted as given in Appendix A. The documents presented to the Session are listed in Appendix B.
9. The Secretariat introduced this agenda item on the basis of document CIFA:DM/LT/93/2, which summarized all actions that had been taken by FAO. Since most of actions taken were covered by other items on the agenda, discussions which ensued on the other related agenda items showed that the Sub-Committee was satisfied with the efforts which FAO had made in implementing the recommendations and the results so far obtained.
10. The Sub-Committee expressed gratitude to the Government of Finland for funding the Lake Tanganyika Research Project in response to the request of Members Countries. It called upon its Members to approach the EEC individually to seek funds for national and regional projects on Lake Tanganyika.
11. The Secretariat introduced agenda item 5 with documents CIFA:DM/LT/93/3 and CIFA:DM/LT/93/4 covering fishery development and management policy issues; constraints as well as fishery statistics systems around the lake and also heard country statements delivered by Burundi, Tanzania, Zaire, and Zambia.
12. In introducing document CIFA:DM/LT/93/3, Development and Management of Lake Tanganyika Fisheries, and in summarizing the principal issues raised in the country statements, the Secretariat drew attention to the main features of the fisheries, and in particular the status of artisanal and industrial fisheries, and the types of fishing being practised with varying intensity in different parts of the lake.
13. The Sub-Committee was informed that the regional project on Research for the Management of the Fisheries on Lake Tanganyika had been approved and became operational in January 1992, and that this was providing fresh impetus to improving management and a development direction, since one of its aims was the formulation of a fishery management plan for the lake. This would, however, require attention to be given to relevant data collection and analysis, from many diverse quarters, in order that the introduction of regulations to aid management of fisheries could be made on a scientifically sound basis. The project would also guide planners in the recommendations to be given to governments in the type of policies which would most appropriately lead to socio-economic development based on the sustainable use of the fishery resources.
14. The Sub-Committee examined current problems of fishery development and management, noted that the major constraint was the lack of a permanent mechanism and institution for fisheries management on the lake and made the following strong recommendations.
15. The Sub-Committee, noting the need to set up a stronger coordinating body, recommended that the riparian countries make concerted efforts to establish the Lake Tanganyika Fisheries Commission with a mandate to undertake research programmes, harmonize and implement fishery management measures, as well as to coordinate fishery regulations.
16. The Sub-Committee noted with concern the problems faced by artisanal fishermen/fisherfolk and called on riparian governments and the international community to assist the artisanal fishermen in improving their wellbeing.
17. The Sub-Committee noted the considerable post-harvest losses of fish products around the lake and recommended that member countries make a greater effort to improve fish processing and storage facilities in order to reduce such losses.
18. The hazards of polluting Lake Tanganyika and the need for environment protection were noted by the Sub-Committee. It was recommended that the four countries take the necessary measures to protect the lake environment, control pollution and abate the introduction of exotic species of aquatic weeds and fish.
19. The Sub-Committee noted that some local overfishing in the lake existed, caused by the use of small mesh-size nets. It urged the Member States to take the necessary management measures to ensure that the proper mesh-size nets are used in the fisheries of the lake.
20. The Sub-Committee examined the conclusions and recommendations of the fishery statistics Workshop given in document CIFA:DM/LT/93/4. It stressed the importance of training and urged the Regional Fisheries Project to improve fishery statistics through training senior nationals who would in turn serve as trainers in their own countries. The Sub-Committee requested the Member Countries to provide data on formats provided at the Statistics Workshop in order to standardize the collection of statistical information on a lakewide basis. The Sub-Committee endorsed the recommendations given in Appendix E.
21. The Secretariat introduced the discussion on the basis of document CIFA:DM/LT/93/5 (Progress of the Lake Tanganyika Fisheries Research Project). The report had already been reviewed in detail during the Second Joint Meeting of the Project Coordination and International Scientific Committees held prior to the Sixth Session.
22. The Sub-Committee considered the progress made by the regional project “Research for the Management of the Fisheries of Lake Tanganyika (FAO/FINNIDA GCP/RAF/271/FIN). It expressed satisfaction for the good work carried out and the results obtained during the brief period of its existence.
23. Members of the Sub-Committee expressed gratitude to the Government of Finland for the assistance given to the Riparian States.
24. The Sub-Committee also considered document CIFA:DM/LT/93/6 and endorsed the Report of the Second Joint Meeting of the LTR Coordination and International Scientific Committees, Lusaka, Zambia, 14–15 October 1993.
25. The Members of the Sub-Committee, however, highlighted certain issues which required future follow-up by the project and Secretariat. It was emphasized that the Project should continue to endeavour establishing a resource base which could be used for achieving sustainable development of the fisheries of Lake Tanganyika.
26. The Sub-Committee felt that training was essential in order to ensure continuity of the activities initiated by the current research project (LTR).
27. Members of the Sub-Committee stressed the need to involve even more closely national scientists and research institutes as a basis for ensuring continuation of research activities and building up of the manpower base on the lake. It was further emphasized that project management should involve the Scientific and Coordination Committees in making important decisions.
28. The Sub-Committee expressed concern on the arrangements made to make available a fisheries research vessel. It was stressed that fishery research on the lake would require a vessel on a long-term basis. It regretted that the Sub-Committee was not consulted on chartering the vessel. The Sub-Committee requested the Secretariat to look into this matter and ensure that the project could own a vessel on a permanent basis.
29. The Sub-Committee appreciated the efforts made by the International Community and UNDP in particular to establish a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Programme for Lake Tanganyika. The Sub-Committee requested the Secretariat to send the GEF Programme documents to Member Countries. In view of the multidisciplinary nature of GEF, the Sub-Committee drew attention to the difficulties of its implementation and its possible linkages to the ongoing LTR project.
30. The Sub-Committee requested the Secretariat to further pursue the development of the GEF Programme and to identify areas of collaboration between the two projects. It was particularly stressed that care should be taken in order to avoid duplication of activities between the LTR Project and the GEF Programme.
31. The Observer from Finland stressed the importance of close cooperation between LTR and the forthcoming GEF Programme in order to ensure that the Project fulfilled its objectives and satisfied the expectation of Member Countries.
32. The Observer from SADC briefed the Sub-Committee on activities such as remote sensing and research methods undertaken by the ODA/SADC funded Lake Malawi/Nyasa Fisheries Research Project. He also informed the Sub-Committee on the GEF Programme for Lake Malawi/Nyasa and the proposal for setting up a Management Group for the lake.
33. The Observer from PTA commended the work of the Sub-Committee and the ongoing regional research project. He expressed the wish of his organization to be more closely associated with the activities of the Sub-Committee and the Lake Tanganyika Regional Fisheries Research Project.
34. The Sub-Committee recommended that its Seventh Session be held in 1995. The exact date and place will be decided by the Director-General of FAO in consultation with the Chairman and the competent authorities of Member Countries.
35. The report was adopted on 19 October 1993.
