Inland Fisheries and Climate Change - A Case Study of the Lake Chilwa Fishery. Daniel Jamu, The WorldFish Center, Malawi.

1. INLAND FISHERIES AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
A CASE STUDY OF THE LAKE CHILWA
FISHERY
Daniel Jamu
WorldFish Center, Malawi
partnership  excellence  growth

2. Objective
• To illustrate that inland fisheries
productivity and livelihoods are affected by
climatic anomalies resulting from climate
change impacts affect
• To present and share experiences on
climate change adaptation in inland
fisheries from an on-going project in the
Lake Chilwa Basin, Malawi.
partnership  excellence  growth

3. Inland Fisheries and Climate
Change
• Lake Tanganyika: Warming climate has increased
surface water temperature, reduced primary productivity
and reduced fish catch rate over the last century
(O’Reilly, 2003);
• Lake Malawi: evidence of warming and eutrophication
(Vollmer et al., 2005, Otu et al., 2011)
• Shallow lakes(Chad, Bangweulu, Chilwa)
– Surface area and water levels fluctuate with regional
rainfall anomalies
– Fish catches, fishing activity and livelihoods mirror
observed fluctuations (Jul-Larsen, 2003)
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4. Malawi Fisheries Fact Sheet
• 65,000MT = total annual production
• US$64m = annual value (beach value) of
fisheries production
• 500,000 = Number of people supported by
the fisheries sector
• 15 = Rank (n=132 in terms of vulnerability
of national economy to climate-change
driven impacts on fisheries (Allison et
al.,2008)
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5. LAKE CHILWA CASE STUDY
• Ramsar site
• Area: 2,310 km2 (1,836 km2
open water)
• Shallow (Mean Depth =
1.5m; Max. Depth = 2.5m)
• High fish production
(16,000MT per year)
• Fish valuable resource
(US$17m/year)
partnership  excellence  growth

6. LAKE CHILWA CASE STUDY
• Lake levels dependent
on rainfall
• Fish production driven
by lake levels
• Prone to partial or
complete drying
• Dried 8 times in last 100
years
partnership  excellence  growth

7. Rainfall variability and lake
water levels
Relationship between lake levels and rainfall at Chileka (nearest
station with reliable rainfall data (Rebelo et al., 2011)
partnership  excellence  growth

8. Lake Chilwa prone to periodic
drying
Lake Chilwa normal year (Left) and Lake
Chilwa dry year (Right)
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9. Non-climatic factors affecting
lake water levels changes
• Increased runoff and
siltation
– Poor agricultural
practices + Deforestation
• Wetland and forest
biomass burning
– Reduced silt deposition
in wetland
– Accelerated runoff
partnership  excellence  growth

10. Lake water level variability and
fish production
25000 Catch 14
Mean Lake Level (m)
12
20000
10
Mean Lake Level (m)
Catch (tonnes)
15000 8
10000 6
4
5000
2
0 0
1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007
Year
Historical mean annual lake level (m) of Lake Chilwa and total
catch(metric tons). Arrows show periods of partial (broken) and
complete (solid) line
partnership  excellence  growth

11. Fish production and livelihoods
7000
6000
5000
Individuals
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
1999
2000
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
2001
2002
2003
Gear owners Crew
Livelihoods of fishers, traders and basin communities mirror
changes in lake hydrology . Arrows denote periods of complete
drying
partnership  excellence  growth

12. Responding to impacts of climate
change on livelihoods in the basin
LAKE CHILWA BASIN CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION PROGRAMME
• Funded by Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Implemented by LEAD/University of
Malawi, WorldFish Center and Forestry
Research Institute of Malawi
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13. Overall Goal
• To secure the livelihoods of 1.5 million
people in the Lake Chilwa Basin and build
capacity of rural communities to manage
the impacts of climate change.
– Capacity strengthening
– Improve adaptive capacity
– Facilitate cross-sector planning and
management for climate change in the basin
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14. Programme Design Framework
Exposure
Impact Vulnerability
Sensitivity Adger,2000, IPCC, 2001
Adaptive
capacity
ECOSYSTEM APPROACH
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15. Climate Change Vulnerability
Variable Sensitivity Resilience
Fish catches High High
Lake ecosystem High Medium
Incomes High Low
Livelihoods High Low
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16. Adaptive capacity of Lake
Chilwa Communities-Findings
• Strong social capital
• Weak human, financial, natural and
physical capital
– Low literacy
– Low incomes and poor access to credit
– Degraded forests and agricultural land;
declining fish catches
– Dilapidated educational and health
infrastructure
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17. Addressing weak adaptive
capacity
Adaptive capacity Activity
measure
Financial (income) Value addition and linking commodity
enterprises to markets
Financial (savings and Link farmers and fishers to banks and
loans) business management services
Natural Afforestation and enhanced monitoring of
water, soil and fisheries
Physical Facilitate communities to demand social
services
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18. CLIMATIC ANOMALIES AND
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
Increased
rainfall
High Post Harvest
Losses
High water
levels
Climate Climatic High Fish Low fisher Reduced
change anomalies Catches income adaptive
capacity
High High Firewood Reduced natural
temperatures consumption capital
High
deforestation rate
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19. FISH VALUE ADDITION AND
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
•Smoking kilns reduce
post-harvest losses and
save firewood by 30%
•Save 2400 tons of wood
(30ha of mature forest)
partnership  excellence  growth

20. FISH VALUE ADDITION AND
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
Reduction of post harvest
losses and improved food
safety by solar fish driers
= Increased Incomes
partnership  excellence  growth

21. STRENGHTENING CAPACITY
OF WOMEN FISH TRADERS
•Women fish processors participating
Leadership training
in a National Agriculture Fair.
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22. INCREASING ECOSYSTEM
RESILIENCE
• Participatory fish
monitoring using
log books
– Reduced IUU
– Improved
management
Spatial mapping of fishing areas
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23. INCREASING ECOSYSTEM
RESILIENCE
Afforestation of degraded slopes Promotion of village forest areas
Regulate river flow and reduce siltation of Lake Chilwa
partnership  excellence  growth

24. INCREASING ECOSYSTEM
RESILIENCE
Conservation agriculture to reduce Soil erosion monitoring to inform
soil erosion and runoff to the lake farmers and managers
partnership  excellence  growth

25. INCREASING ECOSYSTEM
RESILIENCE
Long term lake water level monitoring
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26. CONCLUDING REMARKS
• Lake Chilwa ecosystem and communities is an
example of an inland fishery affected by climatic
anomalies resulting from climate change
impacts
• IPCC framework for defining vulnerability
relevant for design and implementation of Lake
Chilwa climate change adaptation programme
• Adaptive capacity measures which achieve
economic benefits in the short term are good
candidates for quick wins during early stages of
implementation of adaptation projects
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