CHAPTER IX 

 FISHERIES 



INTRODUCTION 



IN VIEW of the enormous seaboard of Africa, the extent of its 

 great lakes and rivers, and the exuberance offish life in tropical 

 waters, remarkably little has been done for the development of 

 fisheries. Fish exist wherever there is water in Africa, except in a 

 few small lakes and high mountain streams in the interior, and 

 provide the principal subsistence of numerous native tribes. But 

 the methods of catching and preserving the fish, though employing 

 local facilities in the most ingenious ways, do not turn the resources 

 to the best advantage. 



An analogy may be drawn between primitive fishing methods 

 and shifting cultivation. It is pointed out in Chapter XIII that 

 shifting cultivation, though well suited to the needs of native 

 peoples when the population is sparse, is inadequate and indeed 

 extremely harmful, as soon as the population grows beyond a 

 certain limit. Therefore work is being directed in many places 

 towards the introduction of improved systems of crop rotation, 

 manuring and so forth. In the case of fisheries, however, expen- 

 sive measures for keeping the waters in production are unnecessary. 

 In order to establish permanent industries the only requirements 

 are surveys to reveal the resources, the introduction of modern 

 methods of catching and curing, and the surveillance of fisheries 

 to ensure that stocks are not reduced to dangerous levels. 



Compared with agriculture, fisheries ofifer relatively cheap oppor- 

 tunities for development, but undue optimism should be avoided. 

 An extensive initial survey of resources is desirable, particularly 



