As Numbers Of Fishermen Double, Lake Malawi Showing The Strain As Yields Drop - AFP

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Saidi Afida rows his dugout canoe back to the beach on the shores of Lake Malawi with a worried face. "Things have really changed," says Afida, in between selling his catch to a group of women at Senga Bay beach in central Malawi. "Just five years ago I came back from fishing with a full canoe every day. Now it's barely half full," he says.

Afida, 33, knows the the cause of the problem, but he can't do anything about it. "There are too many of us fishing in this lake. Everybody has become a fisherman and we all fish from the shallow waters."

The 22,490 square kilometer Lake Malawi, bordered by Tanzania and Mozambique, covers a third of the country and is Africa's third largest pool of fresh water. Home to more than 500 species of fish, it plays a crucial nutritional role by providing for over 60 percent of national protein requirements. It also is a key source of employment in one of Africa's most impoverished nations. While an estimated 40,000 people fish its waters, many more derive their livelihoods indirectly through industries such as fish processing and boat repairs.

Alexander Bulirani, director of fisheries in the ministry of agriculture and food security, says the number of fishermen had increased by 124 percent in the last decade but denies that stocks are running low. "The lake still has substantial amount of fish in deep waters" which ordinary fishermen cannot reach without motorised boats.

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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Too_many_fishermen_cause_stocks_to_dwindle_in_giant_Lake_Malawi_999.html