FISHERIES MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND THE MDGS: PAST EXPERIENCE AND FUTURE VISION
This paper examines the eleven year Department for International Development funded Fisheries Management Science Programme as a model to explore how fisheries management science can contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It describes how the Programme strategy was able to adapt to a changing policy environment and local needs and demands for research in order to achieve these goals. It describes a research portfolio that addresses a number of themes contributing to achieving ecologically and economically sustainable fisheries that can support and maintain fisheries associated livelihoods. These themes include policy information required to support fisheries; the information systems needed to involve fishers, particularly the poor, in the comanagement of fishery resources; fisheries assessment methods and how these can be integrated within pro-poor capture fisheries management strategies; and, the role that enhancement fisheries can play in poverty alleviation. The paper concludes by highlighting what more needs to be done, building on the achievements of the FMSP, and outlining a vision for the future.
Assessing the impacts of fisheries management science: a review of the Department for International Development's fisheries management science programme
A central objective for the UK Department for International Development (DFID)-funded research on renewable natural resource systems has been that the research commissioned results in significant positive developmental impacts. This paper examines how the DFID-funded Fisheries Management Science Programme has approached the assessment of the impact achieved through the projects it has commissioned. Fisheries pose a particular challenge for the attribution of impact and a variety of approaches to impact assessment are required, as the systems are characteristically complex, dynamic and heterogeneous. Typically fishery systems operate across multiple scales, involving a wide range of stakeholders with different, and sometimes conflicting, objectives. The paper describes the model and methods that were employed and highlights some of the developmental impact of fisheries management research achieved by projects commissioned during the 11 years of the programme. The lessons learned regarding uptake, adoption and impact assessment should be of interest both to researchers and those funding developmental research.
Lake Muzahi, Rwanda: limnological features and phytoplankton production
Lake Muhazi, a small lake of Rwanda (East Africa) was studied from 1986 to 1990. A dramatic decrease of the catch of Oreochromis niloticus (350 T y−1 in the fifties vs 30 T y−1 in 1982) suggested a loss of productivity or overfishing. In the same period, other ecological changes occurred: the submerged macrophytes regressed and there was a decrease in Secchi depth (0.65 m in 1987 vs 1.5 m in the fifties). Compared to other lakes of the same area, the plankton production seemed low. The results of the present study characterize lake Muhazi as a shallow lake with a rather unstable diurnal stratification and with slight differences in mixing regime between its eastern, deepest part and its western, shallowest part. Secchi disk depth does not vary seasonally to a large extent. The water has a rather high mineral content (conductivity of about 500 µS cm−1 at 25 °C) and low concentrations of dissolved N and P, except in the hypolimnion, where NHinf4sup+-N can be high.Two species, Microcystis aeruginosa and Ceratium hirundinella, account for most of the phytoplankton biomass, which is about 50–80 mg chlorophyll a m−2 in the euphotic zone, usually with little seasonal variation. Daily gross production estimates amount to about 6 to 9.5 g O2 m−2 d−1 with a significant difference between the two parts of the lake. Data on C:N and C:P ratio in the phytoplankton suggest that some N deficiency might occur in the eastern part. Moreover, the Zm:Zc ratio could also lead to rather low net production rates (0.21–0.25 d−1 for a mixed layer of 4 m)In conclusion, the primary production of lake Muhazi is medium for African lakes and the hypothesis that decreased planktonic production could account for a reduced fish production should be discarded. Whereas the present yield of the fishery is only 20 kg ha−1 y−1, the yield estimated from primary production ranges between 46 and 64 kg ha−1 y−1. This could be reached through proper management. Finally, some hypotheses are given to explain the ecological changes which occurred in the lake.