The use of water resources for inland fisheries in South Africa

Abstract

The contribution of inland fisheries to food security, livelihood provision, poverty alleviation, and economic development in developing African countries is well documented, but there is surprisingly little literature on the history, current status and potential of South Africa's inland fishery resources. This presents a constraint to the management and sustainable development of inland fisheries. A literature review of peer-reviewed and grey literature was thus undertaken which is presented as a synthesis of knowledge on inland fisheries in South Africa. We track the chronology of literary themes on inland fisheries from the colonial era to the present, provide an overview of the recreational, subsistence and commercial sub-sectors, the production potential of inland waters, interventions to promote fishery development, and attempts to value inland fisheries. The review summarises the current state of knowledge on fisheries resources, outlines potential sources of data, highlights relevant and important information, and identifies knowledge gaps. The literature survey reveals an urgent need for research covering the biological, social, economic and governance aspects, if inland fisheries are to be developed in a rational and sustainable manner which promotes South Africa's national policy goals.

The history of South African inland fisheries policy with governance recommendations for the democratic era

“…Inland fishery policies in the South African Union , and subsequently the apartheid-era Republic (1961Republic ( -1994, included the promotion of the sustainable use of indigenous species as well as established alien species such as carp for food production (Anon., 1944, McCafferty et al, 2012. The dam-building era of the 1960s and 70s stimulated research into the fishery potential of the new impoundments, but most commercial fishery projects failed due to their low productivity and the lack of a market for freshwater fish (McCafferty et al, 2012).…”

“…The lack of policy and associated capacity to guide South African inland fishery governance has been highlighted previously (Weyl et al, 2007;McCafferty et al, 2012), with suggestions provided to guide the establishment of appropriate institutional and management arrangements. Based on a case study of the inland fishery potential of the dams in the North-West Province, Weyl et al (2007) provided recommendations for fishery development based on the productivity of each dam, biodiversity considerations, user group characteristics, and socio-economic objectives -particularly the promotion of rural livelihoods.…”

An institutional approach for developing South African inland freshwater fisheries for improved food security and rural livelihoods

“…Where vessels are being used, a vessel safety certificate (seaworthiness) and use of a qualified vessel operator (with a skipper's licence), which are issued by South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) are part of the conditions. Of note is that the NWA does not specifically mention fisheries as a resource in dams even though clearly fishing is one of the benefits that recreational and subsistence fishers derive from these dams (Tapela et al, 2011;Weyl et al, 2007;McCafferty et al, 2012).…”

“…Despite their potential, these inland water resources remain largely under or unutilised for provision of fish protein and nutrition security, income and employment for the rural poor living in the vicinity of these resources. One of the key reasons why this potential has not so far been realised is the lack of Government policy on inland fisheries and capacity required to develop and support the sector (McCafferty et al, 2012;Hara and Ngwexana, 2011). An important consequence of this lack of policy is the unclear definition, specification and insecure recognition of property rights to these resources and also the lack of viable management approaches for the sector.…”

“…The type (whether group or individual, free or permit based) and form (whether subsistence, commercial or recreation) of fishing rights will depend on factors such as geographic location of the given water body in relation to potential fishing communities. Important will be productivity of the dam and the species stocked in the dam (Weyl et al, 2007;McCafferty et al 2012). Also key will be the viable organisational structures necessary for ensuring sustainable utilisation of inland fisheries, given that currently ownership and control of dams and responsibility for management of the various resources that occur in dams, is shared among a number of government departments and user group organisations.…”