Project to restore fish breeding grounds
Karonga district fisheries officer William Chirwa says they plan to restore fish breeding grounds affected by floods in the district through a Sustainable Fisheries, Aquaculture Development and Watershed Management Project.
He said this on Saturday during a stakeholders meeting on the project.
Said Chirwa: “Heavy rains have resulted in siltation of breeding grounds along the lake in the district.
“If we do not do something, the situation will affect the population of fish and catches.”
He cited Mlare and Chiondo lagoons as some of the degraded breeding grounds that need to be rehabilitated.
“The project will also mobilise fishers to form cooperatives to effectively run their businesses,” said Chirwa.
A fish trader Loyce Chisiza said the initiative will promote proper management of fish in the lake.
“Some fishers do not abide by government set standards on fishing, but through cooperatives, it will be easy to enforce the regulations,” he said.
Karonga is one of the districts where some people earn a living through fishing.
James Ndovi, a fisher at Ngala Fishing Ground, said the siltation of breeding grounds was threatening his family’s survival.
“I live by fishing in the lake, so, I support the project to restore the breeding grounds,” he said.
The project, implemented along the lakeshore districts of Karonga, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Salima, Mangochi and Nkhotakota as well as Shire Valley districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa, will run for five years with funding from the African Development Bank.
