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Browsing School of Science by Advisor "Hay, Clinton"

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    Assessment of fishers’ catches on a Kavango River floodplain, Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2023) Tiyeho, Deon Cain; Hay, Clinton
    Floodplains in the Kavango River sustain an important fishery that provides riparian communities with a source of food, seasonal employment and income for those that sell their catches. This study was conducted to investigate the effort, fishing gear, and fish catches of the fishers on the Kamutjonga floodplain along the Kavango River, Namibia. Fishers were monitored daily for two annual flood cycles of 2018 and 2020 (February to June). A total of 254 and 462 fisher days were recorded during the 2018 and 2020 flood cycles, respectively, where females dominated the fishing in both years. In 2018, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) in number (fish/set) (set = 60 min) were highest for mosquito nets (93 fish/set) followed by plastic containers (12 fish/set), hook and line (10 fish/set), and traditional traps (7 fish/set). In 2018, CPUE in weight (kg/set) was also highest for mosquito nets (0.21 kg/set), but followed by hook and line (0.17 kg/set), traditional traps (0.03 kg/set), and plastic containers (0.02 kg/set). In 2020, the CPUE in numbers was the highest in mosquito nets (275 fish/set), followed by hook and line (18 fish/set), plastic containers (10 fish/set) and traditional traps (7 fish/set). In 2020, CPUE in weight (kg/set) was the highest in mosquito nets (0.73 kg/set) followed by hook and line (0.63 kg/set), traditional trap (0.06 kg/set) and plastic containers (0.03kg/set). In 2018, a total of 27 fish species were caught and the five most important species according to the index of relative importance (%IRI) were Oreochromis andersonii (79.6%), Coptodon rendalli (9.9%), Pseudocrenilabrus philander (3.8%), Hydrocynus vittatus (2.3%) and Serranochromis angusticeps (1.4%). In 2020, 23 fish species were caught on the and the five most important species according to %IRI were Oreochromis andersonii (65.5%), Coptodon ii rendalli (29.9%), Hydrocynus vittatus (1.8%), Serranochromis macrocephalus (0.9%) and Pharyngochromis acuticeps (0.7%). In 2018, the estimated catch was 150.53 kg constituiting of 79.00 kg during the rising phase, 68.49 kg during the receding phase and 2.99 kg during the high phase. In 2020, the estimated catch was 1 607.00 kg constituiting of 415.25 kg during the rising phase, 1 215.01 kg during the high phase and during the 123.65 kg receding phase. Most of the fish species caught on the floodplain were juvenile of larger fish species, while other fish species were from small sized fish species. It is suggested that harvesting of juvenile fish contributes to food security of riparian communities. The continuous monitoring of the exploitation partterns of the Kamutjonga floodplain is encouraged to enusure that managers are timely informed of any changes in fishing activities that might negatively impact the fish stocks and make management recommendation