SMALL SCALE FISHERIES DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION CHALLENGES ON LAKE TANGANYIKA, ZAMBIA

For decades poor decisions based on unreliable data have resulted in continued ineffective fisheries management leading to overfishing and ecosystem degradation. Such decisions have contributed to the decline of fishing industry in Zambia. An increase in pressure on fish stocks has been noted and if this continues, the fishing economy will suffer total collapse. This paper provides an opportunity to correct decades of mismanagement by recasting data collection; analysis and feedback pathway given the current real time challenges.The research used qualitative methodology and presented herein are practical issues that constitute challenges of small-scale data collection coupled with examples mostly relevant to Lake Tanganyika, Zambia. Importantly, the paper draws the attention of fisheries data handling stakeholders to the “Why, What, How and Who concept” of data collection. The authors recognise the fact that fisheries data types have often been adopted from elsewhere and that there was need to customise such adoptions whilst ensuring robust, simple and cost effective data collection systems. The paper’s conclusion was that only necessary data were good enough for understanding a fishery and for a continuous decision making process. However, no matter how small data sets may be, there was need to address chronic government under-funding, an attribute that seriously crippled data collection due to reliance to a great extent on outside sources of funding. It was recommended that a continuous feedback mechanism between data sources and data users be established that will ensure that data types, quantity and quality were consistent with the requirements for determination of the performance indicators being investigated.