Lake Tanganyika fish production down by 18pc in four years

RUKWA: FISH production on Lake Tanganyika has dwindled by 18 per cent in the last four years affected mainly by overfishing and climate change.

The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Chief Fisheries Officer, Mr Ambakisye told the ‘Daily News’ recently that the production went down from 104,178 tonnes in 2020 to 85,180 tonnes in 2023 and was also affected by illegal and unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

He said these factors affected the fish production on the country’s side of Lake Tanganyika.

“These combination factors are the major causes of declining yields,” Mr Simtoe said.

The government has suspended fishing activities in Lake Tanganyika for three months from May 15, this year to boost the fish population in the world’s longest fresh water lake.

The three-month suspension is aimed at increasing fish reproduction, controlling illegal fishing, curbing environmental degradation and ultimately increasing productivity among fishing communities.

Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Mr Alexander Mnyeti made the announcement recently at Kasanga Ward along the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika in Kalambo District, Rukwa Region.

Mr Mnyeti said the suspension was a collective decision by Tanzania and its neighbours Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.

On his part, Chief Fisheries Officer from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Ambakisye Simtoe said that per survey conducted by Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) in 2022 Lake Tanganyika on part of Tanzania has 144,690 tonnes of population of ‘migebuka’ and sardines.

However, the population has declined by 8 per cent compared to 1995 which was 157,493 tonnes.

Additionally, according to the Chief Fisheries Officer, Katavi region has experienced a worse harvest of fish that fell by 45 per cent from 25,895 tonnes in 2020 to merely 14,335 tonnes in 2023.

Equally, the survey conducted by Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) in 2022 Lake Tanganyika on the Tanzania side the population of ‘migebuka’ and sardines have slightly gone down by 8.0 per cent since 1995.

Lake Tanganyika is the world’s second largest lake by volume that borders Tanzania, Zambia, DRC and Burundi.

Millions of people rely on the rich aquatic biodiversity reserve for food and income.

Yet post-harvest losses caused by poor handling and process techniques as well as impacts of climate change and poor fishing methods are threatening the future of fishing on the lake.