La peche dans le fleuve Niger

The fish production of the River Niger can best be estimated from a country by country evaluation of the tonnage exported and that consumed locally. All exported and some locally consumed fish are preserved by smoking or sun drying, a process which entails a loss of weight. Coefficients to correct for this of between 2.6 to 4 have been calculated depending on the type of product. A further loss occurs due to handling and to insect attack, which may account for up to 40% of the production. Taking the above factors into account the productions estimated for the various countries of the Niger River basin are as follows: Guinea (3,600 t), Mali (90,000 t), Upper Volta and Ivory Coast (negligible), Niger (5,200 t), Dahomey (1,200 t), Nigeria (25,000 t), Cameroon (3,000 t). A total production of 128,000 t is, therefore, obtained for the basin as a whole, excluding the Kainji Reservoir. At this level of production, there have been no intimations of overfishing from any part of the basin, and there is unanimity that fishing could be intensified. On the basis of the estimates of existing production and local estimates of potential production it is possible that up to 200,000 t of fish could be produced annually from the basin as a whole.

Developpement de la peche artisanale dans les eaux Burundaises du Lac Tanganyika

A light fishery for "Ndagala" (Strolothrissa tanganicae) has been practised for many years on Lake Tanganyika. Initially this had a low catch rate, but has since been developed by the introduction of an artisanal fishery unit based on the catamaran. A unit consists of a pair of metal canoes joined together. The fish are attracted by three lights mounted on the structure, and are caught with a pyramid-shaped lift net. Selected beaches have been reserved for the artisanal fishery and the numher of units operating has increased from 12 in 1957 to 538 in 1972. The mean annual catch per unit is 11,000 kg, which is not sufficient for the fishery to be economic. However, prediction of a possible mean catch as high as 40 tons year encouraged the Burundi Government to launch a project with help from the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. This was designed to develop the fishery by the creation of artisanal fishing centres, and to make available a large number of fully equipped catamarans which could be paid for by a system of hire-purchase. The success of the project has illustrated that the furnishing of adequate equipment can bring about a transformation of the traditional fishery.