Governance of Lake Chilwa common pool resources: evolution and conflicts

Figures & data

Figure 1: Lake Chilwa and its extensive associated marshes and floodplain

Table 1: Documented and observed water level changes in Lake Chilwa from 1859 to 1995

Year	High	Low	Very low (dry)
1859	Livingstone (observation)
1860	O'Neill (1884)
1870	Buchanan (1893)
1879			Buchanan (1893)
1880		O'Neill (1884)
1888	Drummond (1902)
1900			Chipeta (1972), Duff (1906)
1913–1915		Chipeta (1972)
1920–1922		Garson and Campbell-Smith (1958)
Late 1930s	Burgess (personal communication)
1943		Chipeta (1972)
1949		Chipeta (1972)
1960–1961		Kalk (1979)
1967–1968			Kalk (1979)
1973		Kalk (1979)
1976	Kalk (1979)
1995			Njaya (1996)
Sources: Kalk et al. (1979) and Njaya (1996).

Figure 2: Evolution of fisheries governance on Lake Chilwa

Table 2: Norms, regulations and agreements in the traditional management system indicating the socio-economic rationale for each regulation

Rule/norm	Socio-economic rationale
Seining according to schedule drawn up by traditional leaders	To ensure equity of access to the fishing grounds
Large meshes (nets made of fibrous plant material) and widely spaced traps	Large-size fish were culturally accepted for consumption and for higher price
Source: Adapted from Van Zwieten and Njaya (2003).

Table 3: Regulations in the centralised system (pre-1995 recession) indicating the socio-economic rationale for each regulation

Rule	Socio-economic rationale
Minimum size of tilapia set at 100 mm	To fetch a higher price
Headline length for matemba seines should not exceed 300 metres	Regulating effort
Minimum mesh size for gill nets set at 2.75 inches (69 mm)	Larger fish fetch higher market prices
Licensing of seines and gill nets	Maximise profits for licensed fishermen
	Revenue for the government
Trawlers to pay commercial licence fees	Generate revenue for the government
Source: Adapted from Van Zwieten and Njaya (2003).

Table 4: Regulations in the co-management arrangement indicating the socio-economic rationale for each regulation

Rule/norm	Socio-economic rationale
Lake Chilwa and Mpoto lagoon should be closed from 1 December to 1 April	To promote fishing and farming practices for cash incomes and food security
Riverine fishing is closed from May to September	To protect breeding matemba so that fishermen catch the mature ones and hence earn high income
Nkacha is a prohibited gear	To avoid competition with the existing beach-operated seines
All gillnets and seines should be licensed	Revenue for government
Fishing should be done during the day time only	For easy monitoring of landed fish
Every fisherman should be registered with a BVC and pay a fishing licence	Control movement of fishermen and limit gear theft
	Revenue for the government and community
No fish traders should market their fish within the waters	To ensure that fish landed are checked by BVCs
Source: Adapted from van Zwieten and Njaya (2003).

KALK , M , MCLACHLAN , A J and HOWARD-WILLIAMS , C . 1979 . “ Lake Chilwa studies of change in a tropical ecosystem ” . In Monographae Biologicae , London : Dr W Junk .

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VAN ZWIETEN , P and NJAYA , F J . 2003 . “ Environmental variability, effort development and the regenerative capacity of the fish stocks in Lake Chilwa ” . In Management, co-management or no management? Major dilemmas in southern African freshwater fisheries , Edited by: Jul-Larsen , E , Kolding , J , Overa , R , Nielsen , J R and Van Zwieten , P . Rome : FAO . FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 426/2

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