Community Based Fisheries Management

Freshwater fisheries is a key livelihood coping mechanism and part of the social fabric for many rural communities in the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB). However, the resource is highly characterized as “open-access” coupled with inconsistent sector-specific administrative and legislative measures which renders the resource to continued increase fishing pressure and other anthropogenic challenges. Based on preliminary investigations, communities within the CORB are of the opinion that fisheries catches’ in the CORB have degraded substantially in size and quantity, as a result of unsustainable exploitation, exposing many households to poverty. National Fisheries Management institutions within the CORB face many challenges including capacity to enforce regulations on the entire river systems, illegal commercialization of fisheries and lack of properly instituted transboundary mechanisms aimed at resolving transboundary conflicts. Poorly defined role of local Traditional Authorities in the implementation of regulations (law enforcement) and on-going conflict between tour operators and fishers with regards to where and how fishers should fish using sustainable approaches form part of other persistent challenges.

In partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries in Angola, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Namibia; OKACOM is demonstrating sustainable community-based fisheries management in the CORB. Central to the attainment of sustainable community-based fisheries management in the CORB is the establishment of Fish Protected Areas (FPAs) through co-management approach. OKACOM is facilitating the establishment of community-based Fisheries Management Committees, formulation of Fisheries Management Plans and procuring community appropriate fisheries management tools such as boats for patrol purposes. In addition, OKACOM is also demonstrating sustainable alternative livelihoods for fishing communities which include vegetable production and conservation agriculture to reduce community dependency on fisheries as a primary or even sole source of food security. Communities currently involved in co-management of fisheries resources in the CORB include Candendele, Seregany and Massaka (all three in Cuangar administration, Angola) and Joseph Mbambangandu Conservancy in Namibia. Communities in Angola are facilitated by Associação de Conservação do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Integrado Rural Angola (ACADIR), while communities in Namibia are facilitated by the Namibia Nature Foundation and other partners.