16 Jun 2020

Lake Ngami Conservation Trust is preparing for fishing at the lake as many water sources continue to receive inflows following the flooding at Mohembo River and Okavango Delta.

The lake which forms part of the delta is a seasonal shallow area that is mainly fed by the Kunyere and Nhabe Rivers both joining at Toteng flowing into the north east edge of the lake.

Fishing at the lake was suspended last year due to severe drought which had resulted in many water sources drying up while the lake also ran out of fish.

When the lake dries up the fish industry gets affected.

The lake plays an important role in the economy of Ngamiland community by way of supporting fishing, tourism, livestock watering and small scale subsistence pastoral/arable farming.

In an interview the trust vice chairperson, Mr Verukua Tjitemisa confirmed that fishing preparations were underway as they had started clearing of camp sites.

He anticipated that the water inflows would reach the lake soon hence efforts to ensure all the camp sites and other necessities were in place.

The inflows typically arrive between June and July, peaking in late August.

But, he stressed that applications for fishing licenses would only be open when the water arrived and the lake was fully recovered adding that they would still use the raffle system to award licenses.

The trust introduced the raffle system to control congestion as the lake experienced the highest number of fishers who had set camps at the lake of which some did not have the licenses.

A certain number of licenses were reserved for the six villages that had been designated as member communities in the trust.

This season, Mr Tjitemisa said they intended to open all the five camp sites namely; Thololamoro, Legotlhwane, Machaba, Botlhatlogo and Tswelenyane.

All the licensed fishermen would be placed in these fishing camps where they will work under the watchful eyes of the trust to ensure compliance to environmental regulations.

In previous fishing seasons, issues of squatters, poor sanitation, untidy surroundings and criminal activities were rife at the lake and the vice chairperson noted that they wanted to ensure such issues do not repeat this time.

“We are going to monitor the situation time and again,” he said.

He explained that although issue of ablution and collection of litter remained a challenge as it was expensive for the trust to hire rubbish collection containers and construct permanent ablution facilities, they had engaged relevant authority to see if they could use mobile toilets.

He admitted that poor sanitation at the lake also affected livestock such as cattle and small stock.

Previously the trust closed two of their camps because it failed to meet contractual obligations to providers of the waste management services at the fish camps.

The fishers had made their own arrangement to pay for the provision of waste management services as they secured lucrative fish markets in Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Apart from fishing, the lake is also a tourism attraction which attracts birdlife viewers and is also a photographic scene hence the importance of cleanliness all the time.

Mr Tjitemisa appealed to the community to cooperate as the trust prepared to open for fishing season.

Every year around March government opens fishing season and closes in December to allow for breeding. ENDS