Fisheries co-management: the Zambian experience

Abstract

Since the late 1980’s various forms of fisheries co-management initiatives have been implemented in some of the major fisheries in Zambia. The reasons for instituting co-management arrangements have been varied and have ranged from the need to control the influx of immigrant fishermen to the desire to encourage the use of legal fishing gear. This paper looks at the manner that co-management has evolved in three fisheries namely Lake Kariba, Lake Bangweulu and the Mweru-Luapula fisheries. It shows that after more than 10 years of co-management the results are still mixed. On one lake there is some form of co-management while on the other two these initiatives have not been very successful.