244 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



Farther south lie Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa, and a 

 number of smaller lakes which still await study. In Northern 

 Rhodesia some preliminary work on the fisheries was done during 

 the faunal survey referred to in Chapter VI I L The report of the 

 survey by Pitman (1934) contains accounts of the native fishing 

 industry. Chapter VII by Pitman, and an appendix by J. Mofliat 

 Thompson. High transport charges have hampered development 

 of the native fishing industry. It is cheaper to rail trucks of dried 

 sea fish from Capetown to the copper mines on the Congo border, 

 than to obtain it from the vast Bangweulu region about one hun- 

 dred miles distant as the crow flies. It is clear, however, that fresh- 

 water fisheries take an important place in the life of natives. The 

 Director of Surveys in Northern Rhodesia, Mr. Fairweather, has 

 stressed that serious depredation has resulted from increased 

 activity of local fishermen, in particular through indiscriminate 

 slaughter of immature fish. All these points suggest the desirability 

 of a full study of the fisheries of Northern Rhodesia. 



In Tanganyika, Lake Rukwa presents a special problem, since 

 it is highly productive offish, and lies within easy reach of the Lupa 

 goldfields; a commercial fishery has been established there to 

 supply the mine workers. Miss Ricardo studied the biological 

 conditions of Lake Rukwa and other waters in that area during 

 1937, and a report on the fishery prospects is now in preparation. 

 Lake Tanganyika has been subjected to intensive faunistic studies, 

 and arrangements are proceeding for a further scientific study by 

 an expedition under Mr. R. S. A. Beauchamp. 



The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan has again considerable possibilities, 

 especially in the marine fisheries of the long Red Sea coastline, 

 but these have not yet been the object of mxuch study. F. E. Ken- 

 chington (1934) has studied methods of curing and the develop- 

 ment of markets. In this territory, however, the prejudice against 

 eating fish, which is widespread among meat-eating and grain- 

 eating peoples, presents an obstacle to such a policy. Kenchington 

 (1933) has also made a study of the Nile perch {Lates nilotica) at 

 Sennar. This fish, the largest of those living in African freshwaters, 

 is widely known to sportsmen, but it is also an important food 

 species in parts of the Nile and in Lakes Albert and Rudolf. 



