Crisis on Lake Kivu in DRC Affects Fishing

(3 Minutes Read)

The instability is deepening poverty and threatening food security for thousands of households that rely on fishing as a primary source of income.

In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, rising insecurity has turned fishing on Lake Kivu into a perilous activity. In Bukavu, the recent takeover by the M23 armed group has severely disrupted local communities and economic activities.

Fishermen now operate in a climate of constant danger, with the insecurity leading to sharp increases in the price of Sambaza fish, a staple in the region. The instability is deepening poverty and threatening food security for thousands of households that rely on fishing as a primary source of income. Lake Kivu is the largest local source of fish in the region , providing more than 20,000 tons of fish per year and subsidizing fish imports for animal protein.
The ongoing FAO/UNDP Fisheries Development Project on Lake Kivu is in its third and final phase. It started modestly in 1979 following what proved to be the successful introduction of a clupeid Isambaza ( Limnothrissa miodon ) from Lake Tanganyika to Lake Kivu in 1959 (Collart, 1960). Its main objectives were, and still are, a rational exploitation of Lake Kivu fisheries resources in order to increase the protein supply and to create employment and revenue opportunities.

Due to rather unique circumstances – no previous fishing tradition, virtually monospecific fishery and no local tradition of consuming fish – the project staff was, and to some degree still is, called on to intervene in virtually all areas of fisheries development.

Read Also:

https://trendsnafrica.com/boat-traffic-between-goma-and-bukavu-resumed/

Thus, fisheries biology, technology (fishing techniques, product development, treatment, and preservation), and marketing were the main areas of intervention. These were complemented by the necessity of training local personnel in all areas of fisheries development, providing credit, and establishing the basis for fisheries administration and management. It follows, therefore, that in this last project phase, the emphasis is placed on consolidation and the assurance of its proper transfer to nationals.