Environmental Management Framework

Development and the Environment

Soil and Land

Forestry

Fisheries

Water Resources

Biological Diversity

Human Habitat

Climate Change

Fish are an important source of protein in Malawi, accounting for 60% to 70% of annual intake. Besides, the fishing industry provides employment and viable incomes to a considerable number of people.

While there has been a sharp increase in supply of fish on the market, per capita fish availability has actually declined, mainly due to an increase in demand from the growing population. Some stocks, such as Lake Malombe chambo have declined sharply mainly as a result of increasing numbers of artisan fishermen exploiting inshore waters of less than 50m. It is only the utaka and usipa supplies that are increasing.

Recommendations:

• besides enforcing gear and closed season regulations more vigorously, efforts should be placed at encouraging community based fisheries management programmes to police on access to fishing areas, so that communities fully support the efforts to sustain the fishery resource;
• restoration or rehabilitation of catchment areas of major rivers that are breeding grounds of some migrating fish needs to be integrated afforestation programmes,
• of particular importance will be the promotion of aquaculture programmes in order to increase supply of fish in the country by developing appropriate aquaculture species and technologies
• in the face of declining catches in inshore waters it may therefore be considered to expand the fisheries into deeper waters.