Participatory fisheries management program around lake malombe: status and lessons learnt

Research PaperParticipatory Fisheries Management (PFM) was introduced in fisheries management in Malawi in 1993 with Lake Malombe as a pilot site. After almost 10 years of implementation, the program has registered some positive achievements however some problems have surfaced that need to be addressed. Although the Fisheries Act was revised in 1997 to recognize the role of local management institutions, the process was not complete as some legal instruments were not in place. Ownership of the resource is still not clear among the communities. There was no sharing of revenue between the government and the communities and consequently there no immediate benefits to manage the resource. Composition of the Beach Village Committees and the role of Traditional leaders seem to be a source of conflict. The allocation of roles and responsibilities was done without proper consultations. Different stakeholders had different agendas and seem antagonistic. In order to have meaningful management by the local communities firstly, the legal framework should be put in place. Gradual transfer of power from government to the local communities coupled with capacity building should be pursued. The different government laws and policies have to be harmonized. Reorganization of the fishers into cooperatives would help in marketing and fisheries management. Zoning of the lake and defining the number of days for fishing would be an option to restrict movement of fishers. The issue of sustainability of PFM needs to be addressed