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SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOLUME 1, NO. 3, July 2016

THE SADC PROTOCOL ON FISHERIES FOCUS ON THE MALAWIAN FISHERIES SECTOR

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is currently composed of 15 Member States, namely: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The SADC Vision is ‘one of a common future, a future in a Regional Community that will ensure economic wellbeing, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice and peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa’. The fisheries sector in SADC countries, comprising marine and inland capture fisheries and aquaculture, generates a variety of benefits, including nutrition and food security, livelihoods, employment, exports and foreign currency and conservation and biodiversity values that are of global significance.

In order to optimize benefits from the fisheries and aquaculture SADC Heads of State in 2001 endorsed the SADC Protocol on Fisheries. The Protocol aims to promote responsible and sustainable use of the living aquatic resources and aquatic ecosystems of interest to State Parties, in order to (i) promote and enhance food security and human health, (ii) safeguard the livelihood of fishing communities, (iii) generate economic opportunities from nationals in the region, (iv) ensure that future generations benefit from these renewable resources; and (v) alleviate poverty with the ultimate objective of its eradication.

Fish in Focus: Chambo, Oreochromis spp. This is the most popular and favored fish in Malawi. This includes a few kinds of large cichlids that reach to 30 cm. Some of them are found at offshore on the lake and another is found at weedy point in the river. They usually swim in the water in groups.

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Malawian Statistics @ a Glance

Physical: Malawi is a landlocked country located in southern central Africa along the western part of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Covering a total area of 118,484 km², it stretches some 900 km north to south, and between 90 and 161 km east to west. Malawi is bordered by the United Republic of Tanzania to the north and north east, Mozambique to the east, south and south west, and Zambia to the west. The country is divided into three regions: the Southern Region, which is undulating and densely populated; the Central Region, which consists of fertile plains and is well-populated; and the mountainous and sparsely populated Northern Region. Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa, spanning a length of 568 km and a width of between 16 and 80 km. In the north, the Rift Valley Escarpment rises steeply from the Lake, reaching altitudes of 2,500m above sea-level. This area includes the Nyika Plateau and the forested Viphya Plateau.

Socio-economic: The country has a population of about 17 million. More than half of the population lives below the national poverty line and the life expectancy is 55 years.

Languages: The main ethnic groups are the Chewa, Tumbuka, Yao and Ngoni. English is the official and business language in Malawi, with Chechewe being the national language, which is widely spoken throughout the country, along with Chitumbuka, the dominant language in the northern region.

Fisheries production: 149 315 tons of fish is produced annually (144 315 tons from capture fisheries and 5 000 from aquaculture). The value provided by the fisheries sector as a whole is estimated at US$181 million. The fisheries sector employs about 170 000 people on fulltime basis. Of these employed, almost 35% are fishers, 45% fish processors and traders, 15% engaged in ancillary activities and 5% in aquaculture. Women are heavily involved in the fish processing sector, accounting for 9.1% of the total workforce in fisheries and aquaculture. Food and Nutritional Security and the Contribution of fisheries: The per capita fish consumption is 6 kg per person, which accounts for 3% of total protein intake. 21% of Malawians are undernourished, with 17% of children under the age of five moderately or severely underweight.

Malawian fisheries sector: Malawi's capture fisheries fall into three broad categories: recreational, subsistence and commercial.

Commercial fishers are either large‐scale or small‐scale, small‐scale commercial fishers may be self‐employed and/or employ outside labour to undertake the fishing operation. 87% of fish landings come from small-scale fishers which use a variety of gear including beach seines, open water seines, gill-nets, fish traps and hooks. The vast majority is brought onto the beaches. Commercial catches are landed at Monkey bay and Maldeco’s fish landing quays. Tilapia and haplochromines are important species captured. Aquaculture practices are mainly extensive farming (chambo, and recently catfish).

© Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government of Malawi & SADC

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Malawian Fisheries Policy Reforms by Mr. Alexander Bulirani, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government of Malawi The Government of the Republic of Malawi has prioritized fisheries and aquaculture in its national development efforts in line with the SADC Protocol on Fisheries. To this end, the 2001 National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (NFAP) has been guiding management of the fisheries resources in Malawi. However, there has been policy shifts from natural resources conservation and management to promoting sustainable production of fish for food security as well as income generation. Consequently, on the 9th June 2016, the Government of Malawi approved the 2nd Edition of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy of 2016. While noting various challenges facing the fisheries sector, the goal of this Policy is to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development in order to contribute to economic growth in Malawi. The Policy also focuses on enhancing fish quality and value addition for domestic and export trade to create wealth, promoting technology development and its transfer to the users, enhancing capacity for the sector’s development and promoting social development, decent employment and fisheries governance through participatory resource management regimes. The Policy aims to address critical issues affecting fisheries and aquaculture development in Malawi. The major challenges include overfishing of commercial valuable fish species like Chambo, high post-harvest losses, climate change, weak collaboration among stakeholders, and slow progress in aquaculture development due to poor quality feeds and fingerlings. There are several opportunities that exist in the implementation of this Policy. The on-going governance reforms to ensure sustainability of the fisheries resources for future generations of Malawians. The growing interest in aquaculture investment provides an impetus to sustained fish production for local and export markets. The support that the fisheries sector gets from several partners also provides an opportunity for wider participation of actors in the fishing industry in both fisheries and aquaculture.

The Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development of the Republic of Malawi, Honorable Dr. George Chaponda, MP officially launched the 2nd Edition of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy at a ceremony held at the Sun N’ Sand Holiday Resort in Mangochi @ Lake Malawi, on the 18th August 2016

© Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government of Malawi

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Lake Malawi (The Lake of Stars): fish and fisheries

Lakes, rivers and oceans are three major environments that the fish lives. Since a lot of water is kept closed inside the lake, the environment of the lake does not change easily. It is also true, however, that the lake environment cannot be recovered easily once it is damaged. Life span of a lake is generally about some 10,000 years, for the lake keep becoming shallower because of the soil from the rivers. However, Lake Malawi and other African Great Lakes have especially long history, and they are still becoming deeper. Lake Malawi is thought to be about 3,000,000 years old. Lake Malawi is known to the world with its enormous variety of the fishes. 500-1000 different species of fish are found, and most of these fish are found only in Lake Malawi. 90% of these fishes belong to the family called “Cichlid”, which includes Utaka, Mbuna, Mcheni and many other kinds. It is thought that all of these 500 different cichlids have developed from the same origin, for about 2,000,000 years. There are some other kinds of fish which live in the Lake, and most of them are also found only in Malawi. Catfishes such as Kampango, Bombe, cyprinid fishes such as Usipa, Ningwe, Nchila, Mpasa and Sanjika. Lake Malawi is clearly a global biodiversity hotspot containing more fish species than any other lake in the world. The fisheries and their associated value chains are a source of food security and livelihoods for a large portion of the lakeshore community. Population growth and increased commercialization of the fisheries in the 1990s caused overfishing. The collapse in these fisheries resulted in the realization that the top-down management had failed to ensure sustainable utilization. As a result, a number of co-management projects were initiated with support from a variety of donors. Now the second Edition of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy seeks to address this challenge

Some of the popular fish species found in Lake Malawi

Utaka Copadichromis spp.

Usipa Engraulicypris spp.

Matemba Barbus paludinosus

Kampango Bagrus meridionalis

Mbuna Tropheus spp. etc.

Mcheni Rhamphochromis spp.

© MBERU/LMEP

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Rapid drop in Lake Malawi’s water levels drives down fish stocks About 1.5 million people depend on the lake for food – including popular Chambo fish – and Malawians are alarmed at decline in stocks. Years ago, it was the norm to catch about 5,000 fish a day, but now, fishers catch about one-fifth of that, or even as less as a mere 300 fish a day. The rapid drop in Lake Malawi's water levels, driven by population growth, climate change and deforestation, is threatening its flora and fauna species with extinction. Over the last three decades some water balance models have been done on the

lake and have shown that the water levels have dropped from 477 metres above sea level in the 1980s to around 474m of the 29,600 sq km lake that straddles the borders of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The “Lake of Stars”, coined by explorer David Livingstone is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The need to arrest the loss of biodiversity is particularly important in Malawi, where people depend on biological resources to a greater extent than they do in other parts of the world. Fish stocks have depleted because of unsustainable fishing practices and non-compliance with fishing regulations. The unsustainable cutting down of trees for fuel is also affecting the quality of the water and the smoke from cooking fires is affecting people’s health. Fishermen in villages have been working with local authorities to address the threats and challenges facing the conservation of Lake Malawi but we have to do more. We need to constantly educate villagers about responsible fishing and conservation and help restore fish stocks and you can help.

© The Guardian and ResponseAbility Alliance and Science 2.0, University of Arizona

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Maldeco Fisheries

For over 20 years, The Foods Company trading as Maldeco Fisheries has harvested, processed and marketed fish from the fresh waters of Lake Malawi. Based in Mangochi District, Maldeco Fisheries is a wholly owned subsidiary of Press Corporation Limited and is engaged in commercial fishing in the Southern and Central parts of Lake Malawi. From its headquarters in Mangochi, Maldeco ensures the highest quality fish products by managing its catch from the nets of the fishing vessels through high standard sorting and processing facilities to premium quality fish products. The Company started its operations in the late 1950’s as a family enterprise. In 1968, the Company was bought by Malawi development Corporation who in turn sold it to ADMARC in 1985. ADMARC sold the company to Press Corporation Limited in November 1989. Maldeco is the largest commercial fishing and processing company in Malawi and thus the largest single supplier of fish in Malawi. Fishing is done using three stern trawlers. The annual catch amounts to over 70% of the total commercial catch and about 7% of the total Lake Malawi catch, which fluctuates between 26,000 tons and 47,000 tons annually.

© Maldeco fisheries, Press Corporation Limited

Chambo fisheries: The largest bio-flock tank farm in the world opened in Malawi Chambo stock is the type of tasty fish found only in Malawi. Some of the fish weighs 500grams to 1kilogram and big in size. The opening of the fish farm comes at a time when Chambo fish is getting depleted in Lake Malawi due to over fishing. The company is also constructing other fish ponds to raise different other species of fish. Chambo Fisheries, owned by Pacific Group of Companies, was introduced in Malawi in order to preserve the much needed Chambo stock. Chambo Fisheries uses the Bio-Floc Water system whose maximum temperatures are 29 degrees Celsius, under a special kind of heating and lighting. In here, the parents do mate and the eggs are later taken to incubators after three weeks. The water system is also very powerful as special machineries are meant to filter any kind of dirt from the water. The incubators separate the eggs until they start turning into small fish for about at least a week. The other processes, entail letting the fish grow with all day, all night automated feeding system in the tanks whose water is also cleaned automatically.

© Lawilink

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Low-tech solar tents boosts Malawi’s fish industry

Fishing communities in Malawi are getting higher prices for their dried fish thanks to simple solar drying technology

A project to provide fishing communities around Lake Malawi with a cheap and effective way to dry their catch is boosting earnings and improving lives. Made from a polythene sheet and a simple wooden frame, the drying tents have been designed to trap warm air inside and dry the fish faster, even during rainy weather. Researchers estimate that for every 10 fish caught, four are spoiled and their value lost before they can be sold, largely because they rot during the drying process. For those making their living from selling dried fish, the solar tent has resulted in cleaner and better-quality fish, which fetch higher prices and have a longer shelf life. Despite dwindling fish stocks in Lake Malawi, dried fish remains a primary source of protein for many people in the region and contributes about 4 percent of the country‘s GDP. Before using the solar tents, the fish were dried in the open on wire racks. During the rainy season they would often spoil before being properly dried, forcing them to be thrown out or reducing the prices they fetch at market. The low-tech solar tents are having another unexpected effect on the areas where they have been built. By drying the fish using the sun's energy, there is now no need to cut down trees which were formerly used to smoke the fish. The project, which also operates in Zambia, is funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research. It is continuing to modify the design of the drying tent, to ensure that it delivers the right balance of ventilation and warmth. Once the design is finalised the project plans to roll it out to more communities in eastern and central Malawi.

© Al Jazeera

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Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)- one of the Centre of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Region During the visit to Malawi, discussions between SADC Secretariat represented by Dr. Motseki Hlatshwayo, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) represented by Prof Emmanuel Kaunda, and World Fish Centre (WFC) represented by Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, were held on the sidelines of the launch of the 2nd Edition of the Malawian National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy. These discussions were based on reviving the SADC fisheries sector to bring it back to its glory days. One of the key areas that need to be addressed, which has been identified in a lot of policies in the region, and recently in the SADC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan, is capacity building. The region used to run a very successful project titled “Regional Aquaculture Training Program” between 2000 and 2005 which was based at then Bunda College of Agriculture (BCA) of the University of Malawi. The main objective of the project was to create a center of excellence in training and research in aquaculture and fisheries science in Malawi and the SADC region. This objective was in accordance with the vision of the BCA, which was to advance and promote knowledge, skills and self-reliance for i) sustainable food production and utilization, ii) improving income, food security and nutrition of the rural and urban populations, and iii) conservation and management of biodiversity, natural resources and environment through the provision of information services, teaching and training, research, outreach and consultancy in response to national, regional and international needs. This program had since lapsed and has had successes and some challenges. There are a lot of lessons learned and recommendations from its evaluation that can be used to formulate a new regional training program based on the renewed impetus in the region. For instance, the program had helped to promote the development of aquaculture in the region. Since then, more and more countries in the region have taken up the aquaculture challenge, but skills and capacities remain a challenge as more fish farmers continue to struggle with limited technical support. A need was identified to revitalize this program, but to use lessons learned from implementation of its precursor and from other programs of the same nature implemented in the region. Some recent developments provide an opportunity for this revitalization project and give further support and impetus. These developments includes the transformation of the BCA into a full university, now called LUANAR; establishment of the NEPAD Fish Node at LUANAR, and the Secretariat of the African Fisheries Experts Network (AFRIFISHNET); recognition of LUANAR as the World Bank Centre of Excellence; and the recently finalized SADC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan (RASAP). It was agreed that a proposal for the “SADC Regional Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Program 2017-2020” be developed in partnership with LUANAR and WFC, and the SADC Secretariat will then engage the international cooperating partners (ICPs) to fund this program. Other partners which were identified include Michigan State University (MSU) and the FAO.

Prof. E.W.K. Kaunda, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LUANAR

The University hosted a successful International Dialogue on Climate Change and Fisheries in 2015.

© LUANAR and SADC

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WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization that is committed to conduct research that harnesses the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. This is done mainly through generation of technologies for sustainable intensification of aquaculture; sustaining fish production systems, especially for small-scale fisheries; and improving fish value-chains in order to improve nutrition and health, especially for the lactating mothers and infants during their first 1000 days of life. WorldFish is a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

The WorldFish work in Africa started in Malawi in 1987 when a strategic partnership with the Government of Malawi and the University of Malawi was established to support the country build a critical mass of scientists at the same time develop appropriate technologies for integrated agriculture-aquaculture farming systems. The Country Office in Malawi, based in Zomba, is one of the few on the continent, and the second in the SADC region. The country office is currently involved in the following projects in Malawi, “Building social and ecological resilience in Lake Chilwa Basin” and “Managing ecosystem services for food security and the nutritional health of the rural poor in Malawi”.

© WorldFish

African Fisheries Experts Network (AFRI-FISHNET)- Unlocking the Potential of Aquaculture and Fisheries in Africa The African Fisheries Experts Network (Afri-FishNet) is a network of fisheries experts in Africa, drawn from aquaculture and fisheries fields, both inland and marine. This is a NEPAD initiative that was developed under the Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF) program. Afri-FishNet is a continental think-tank where African researchers and educators share and work with community, business and policy partners to unlock the wealth from the African waters and safeguard it for future generations. The network is aimed at promoting collaboration and networking for knowledge generation, management and sharing among researchers and other stakeholders for enhanced aquatic biodiversity, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture production, food supplies, market and trade options and economic potential in Africa; and to also enable knowledge-based fisheries and aquaculture management strategy informs the sector’s contribution towards the 6% annual growth (CAADP) in the agricultural sector.

The Secretariat of Afri-FishNet is currently based at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)/Bunda College, in Lilongwe, Malawi

© Afri-FishNet

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This is a publication of the SADC Secretariat

Supported by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), World Fish Centre (WFC) Zambia Office and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Southern Africa Office

For more information:

Dr. Motseki Hlatshwayo Technical Advisor: Fisheries Natural Resources Management Unit Directorate: Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources SADC Secretariat, Gaborone, Botswana Email: mhlatshwayo@sadc.int