CIFA Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries
Fourth Session, Accra, Ghana, 18–22 October 1993
REPORT OF THE SESSION
The Fourth Session of the Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries of the Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA) was held at the FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAFR) in Accra, Ghana.
On behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Edouard Saouma, the Assistant Director-General a.i. (Fisheries) Mr W. Krone and the Regional Representative for Africa, Mr R.T. N'Daw, Mr M. Okai, Deputy Regional Representative for Africa, opened the session at 10.30 hours on 18 October 1993 and welcomed the members of the Working Party.
Mr C. Biney was unanimously elected Chairman of the session. He introduced the Agenda (Annex I), welcomed the participants (listed in Annex II), and referred to the working papers (listed in Annex III).
Mr H. Naeve, Technical Secretary of the Working Party reported that the document entitled “Review of Heavy Metals in the African Aquatic Environment”, prepared during the third session, had been published as an Annex to FAO Fisheries Report No 471 and was also accepted for publication in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, a journal of Academic Press Inc.
A draft document on this subject was presented by Mr O. Osibanjo, together with comments received from members of the Working Party. The paper and comments were thoroughly discussed, a number of amendments were added and an evaluation at regional level was prepared together with a chapter on conclusions. The amended document, the final editing of which was left to Mr O. Osibanjo, is attached to this report as Annex IV. The Working Party requested the Secretariat to make the paper available to the forthcoming CIFA Seminar on African Inland Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Environment and to also look into the possibility of publishing this paper in a scientific journal.
Mr H. Naeve pointed out that the Working Party achieved its major goal to evaluate the state of the African aquatic environment and to review major groups of pollutants that could have negative impacts on aquatic life and fishery resources. It had given general advise on protection of the aquatic environment and had singled out, in order of importance, organic matter, metals and organochlorine substances as potential pollutants; organic matter, giving rise to eutrophication and anoxia, being identified as the major threat to fisheries.
The Working Party, however, felt that, after having reviewed major pollution problems in African inland waters, studies on specific African water bodies are still needed for a better assessment of their specific environmental problems and their relevance to fisheries. Consequently, it is necessary to compile all scientific information in a separate document for each of the following types of African water bodies:
estuaries.
A thorough revision must be considered of all environmental data available on different pollutants and their point and non-point sources, as well as of their effects on the different compartments of each of these groups of water bodies.
The Working Party also took note that eutrophication was an emerging problem for most African lakes, even for the largest among them. This phenomenon is mainly caused by the increase in phosphorus loads, since, as in the majority of other lakes of the world, phosphorus is the limiting factor for primary production. The Working Party, therefore, felt that a report on the phosphorus problem in African lakes, including actual data on phosphorus concentrations, sources and loads, as well as other limnological information, would be desirable. Such a report would also include a review of models and coefficients used in the world to calculate phosphorus loads from non-point sources and would attempt to adapt them to the specific African conditions, thus providing a necessary tool for lake water quality management.
Both subjects, a study of the phosphorus problem and reports on the state of specific types of water bodies, are proposed to CIFA as possible future tasks for the Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries. It is envisaged that this matter will be further discussed at the forthcoming CIFA Seminar, expected to formulate recommendations for research needs and studies in the field of environment and fisheries.
Ms K. Remane introduced this item of the Agenda and referred to the high importance CIFA attaches to the interference of environmental degradation with Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa on one hand and on the possible effects of aquaculture and fisheries activities on the environment on the other hand.
The Working Party was informed that the Seminar will consist of two sessions of one day each. The first session will focus on the pollution and degradation of the African aquatic environment, whereas the second session will address the environmental management practices of African inland fisheries and aquaculture and highlight the opportunities and constraints related to inter-sectoral coordination.
In view of its experience and the broad review work it has accomplished, the CIFA Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries is expected to provide major inputs to Working Session 1 (Pollution and degradation of the African aquatic environment and related impacts on inland fisheries and aquaculture).
The Working Party suggested that the Chairman of this Session of the Working Party, Mr C. Biney, should present at the Seminar a summary of the work it had undertaken and the achievements made. It was recommended that all scientific papers prepared by the Working Party be available at the Symposium.
It was further suggested that the paper by D.A. Calamari, M.O. Akech and P.B.O. Ochumba, entitled “Conservation of the Aquatic Environment ‘Winam Gulf Basin Area’ - Preliminary Hazard Assessment”, prepared under an FAO/TCP project, should be presented at the Seminar as an example for the application of the hazard assessment approach for the management of the aquatic environment.
All members of the Working Party were further invited to contribute papers to the Seminar and to circulate among their colleagues the revised Information Note of the Seminar which will be sent to them in due course.
The Working Party reviewed the draft report of the session and approved it for submission to CIFA. Editorial changes were left to the Secretariat.
Mr H. Naeve thanked the members of the Working Party for their work and congratulated them for the results achieved. The Chairman, Mr C. Biney, closed the session on Friday, 22 October 1993 at 11.30 hours.
