Abstract
Lake Kivu is experiencing unprecedented decline in production of Tanganyika Sardine (Limnothrissa miodon). This study sought to characterise the value chain of this fish species so as to chart its sustainable utilisation. The study performed in 2015 found two chains; an informal chain that takes 30% of the production and a formal chain that handles 70%. The average catch of sardine was 30 kg/day in the high production season and <15 kg/day in the low season. Two thirds of the fishers were not aware of the governing law. Fishing malpractices included fishing in prohibited sites, beach seining and fishing during moratorium period. Majority of fishers were not satisfied with the price offered in the market as costs involved in fishing was 701 Rwanda Francs/kg caught. This is despite the shift in time since the study was performed. Therefore, there is need for re-training of value chain actors, increasing lake surveillance, strengthening internal controls of the Fishers’ Cooperatives and improving information sharing and communication among value chain actors. Key words: Chain mapping, fisheries, Lake Kivu, stakeholder analysis, Tanganyika Sardine.
Highlights
Capture fisheries and aquaculture are both critical to food and nutrition but while aquaculture has been growing faster than any other food-producing sector (Bennett et al, 2018), the role of capture fisheries will remain significant being that several aquatic food species have not been domesticated or the registered success is not
Considering that environmental conditions in Lake Kivu are good for Tanganyika Sardine fisheries, yields from the lake would be expected to be high, this was not the case at the time of study because the fishing techniques are too aggressive
The scope of this paper is to describe a study that quantitatively and qualitatively assessed Tanganyika Sardine value chain and the extent to which the recommended practices for Tanganyika Sardine fishing and fisheries management are adopted, and to shed light on the relationships between the various Tanganyika Sardine value chain actors in Lake Kivu, Rwanda
Summary
Fish contributes almost one-fifth of animal protein, slightly less than 10% of all proteins and is food for over three billion inhabitants of developing countries (FAO, 2018a) and in Africa over 200 million people rely on fish for their proteins (Obiero et al, 2019), vitamins and micronutrients, cannot be underestimated (Hicks et al, 2019). Considering that environmental conditions in Lake Kivu are good for Tanganyika Sardine fisheries, yields from the lake would be expected to be high, this was not the case at the time of study (mid-2015) because the fishing techniques are too aggressive. It was, hypothesized that economic pressures and lack of information on long term sustainable fishing may be the causative factors. This assessment would inform the formulation of competitive strategies, and reveal sources of competitive advantage for the sector
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