07 Dec 2015

Department of Wildlife and National Parks is worried about illegal fishing at Lake Ngami. The situation, according to wildlife officer, Mr Kaelo Nkile, illegal fishing continued, despite patrols carried out on a daily basis.

He said in an interview recently that they received 22 cases of illegal fishing between October 16 to November 7 this year and arrested 24 culprits for the offence. He said first offenders were charged P200 while others were fined P500.

Mr Nkile said fishing equipment which was impounded was forfeited to government. He said the offenders were mostly local residents and a few refugees from Dukwi who were normally employed at the Lake.

However, Mr Nkile said they had conducted a fishing survey on high floods and are currently awaiting to conduct another one in low floods which will help in establishing the types of fish available in the lake.

He however advised people to comply with the law as preparations for the opening of the next fishing season are ongoing. On the other hand, the chairperson of Lake Ngami Conservation Trust, Mr Frisco Gabokakangwe told BOPA that they were in the process of constructing fishing camps, camping sites and trust offices but still awaiting go ahead from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

So far, he said they have bought trust vehicles which will help in making their daily activities run smoothly. He encouraged people to be patient as the lake will be opened during the next fishing season in 2016. He said the closure of the lake was meant to preserve life in the lake.

Lake Ngami was closed this year after residents complained of pollution to the environment as well as failure to meet fishing permit requirements ENDS