Historical Trends in Fisheries Management

Abstract

The management of the fisheries of Lake Victoria has had several successes and failures. These failures were either due to inadequate awareness of the fishing communities on the proposed protocols, and/or little attention paid by the government during the colonial period on the importance of lake fisheries. After independence of the riparian states, each country developed her own approach, but based on the findings of research and recommendations from Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO ). Lately, through the LVFO and especially under the Lake Victroria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP), more concrete and harmonised fisheries management programmes have been developed. In Tanzania, the evolution of the management of fisheries can be divided into four major historical periods: The pre-colonial period, the colonial period, the state-owned economy period (1961–1985) and the liberalised economy period (after 1986). This chapter summarises all the events that took place during these four major periods. It also discusses the results and proposes the way forward. In particular, the chapter emphasises the threats to the lake fisheries resources and other aquatic living organisms arising from effluent discharges from towns and the agricultural areas surrounding the lake. The different effective management organs such as BMUs (developed under LVEMP I and incorporated into Fisheries Act of 2003) have been mentioned as the products of LVEMP I. Finally, the chapter makes three recommendations related to future management of the lake.