inland fisheries and climate change

partnership Ÿ excellence Ÿ growth

INLAND FISHERIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

A CASE STUDY OF THE LAKE CHILWA FISHERY

Daniel Jamu

WorldFish Center, Malawi


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.


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)


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)


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)


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


Rainfall variability and lake water levels

Relationship between lake levels and rainfall at Chileka (nearest station with reliable rainfall data (Rebelo et al., 2011)


Lake Chilwa prone to periodic drying

Lake Chilwa normal year (Left) and Lake Chilwa dry year (Right)


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


Lake water level variability and fish production

Historical mean annual lake level (m) of Lake Chilwa and total catch(metric tons). Arrows show periods of partial (broken) and complete (solid) line

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14CatchMean Lake Level (m)

Year

Cat

ch (

tonn

es)

Mea

n La

ke L

evel

(m

)


Fish production and livelihoods

19831985

19871989

19911993

19951997

19992001

20030

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Gear owners Crew

Individuals

Livelihoods of fishers, traders and basin communities mirror changes in lake hydrology . Arrows denote periods of complete drying


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


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


Programme Design Framework

Exposure

Sensitivity

Impact Vulnerability

Adaptive capacity

Adger,2000, IPCC, 2001

ECOSYSTEM APPROACH


Climate Change Vulnerability

Variable Sensitivity Resilience

Fish catches High High

Lake ecosystem High Medium

Incomes High Low

Livelihoods High Low


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


Addressing weak adaptive capacity

Adaptive capacity measure

Activity

Financial (income) Value addition and linking commodity enterprises to markets

Financial (savings and loans)

Link farmers and fishers to banks and business management services

Natural Afforestation and enhanced monitoring of water, soil and fisheries

Physical Facilitate communities to demand social services


CLIMATIC ANOMALIES AND ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

Climate change

Climatic anomalies

Increased rainfall

High temperatures

High Fish Catches

High Post Harvest Losses

High Firewood consumption

Low fisher income

Reduced adaptive capacity

High deforestation rate

Reduced natural capital

High water levels


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)


FISH VALUE ADDITION AND ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

Reduction of post harvest losses and improved food safety by solar fish driers = Increased Incomes


STRENGHTENING CAPACITY OF WOMEN FISH TRADERS

Leadership training• Women fish processors participating

in a National Agriculture Fair.


INCREASING ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE

• Participatory fish monitoring using log books– Reduced IUU – Improved

management

Spatial mapping of fishing areas



Afforestation of degraded slopes Promotion of village forest areas

Regulate river flow and reduce siltation of Lake Chilwa



Conservation agriculture to reduce soil erosion and runoff to the lake

Soil erosion monitoring to inform farmers and managers



Long term lake water level monitoring


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

inland fisheries and climate change

Education

lake malawi

lake water levels

lake chilwa prone

lake hydrology

climate change lake

mean lake level mcatch

thelake chilwa basin

fish value addition