Over-fishing

Throughout much of Luangwa River, it is not unusual to have 200 to 400 fishermen utilizing and sharing the same 50 mile length of river. Most of the nets used are the cheap variety made in China and undersized according to legal practices, creating enormous pressures of over-exploitation on river fisheries.

People resort to fishing to help generate cash to buy food when farming results are poor or to have sufficient income to meet family needs. As fish size diminishes with increasing fishing pressure, which is the current trend throughout much of Luangwa River, the market value of fish also declines with declining fish size. To compensate, fishermen invest more effort to increase their total catch. This creates a positive feedback on fish resource depletion, as people continue to rely on fishing to mitigate their problems of poverty and hunger. The specter of a real fisheries collapse of the Luangwa River is not unrealistic and could result in increased pressures on other resources, including wildlife, as more people turn to wildlife to fill the need that a declining fisheries resource may create.

The challenge to avoid this tragedy of commons is to find alternative strategies for meeting livelihood needs that fishing currently provides. Regulations and law enforcement will become increasingly difficult to rely on as a solution. Government leaders are elected to help its citizens improve their livelihood security, and without easier solutions, turning a blind e to short-term consequences of resource depletion is sometimes more politically acceptable than taking a firmer, unpopular hand of law enforcement.