MALI: Bozo people's fishing traditions under threat from overfishing

Record ID: 455779

  • Title: MALI: Bozo people's fishing traditions under threat from overfishing
  • Date: 5th February 2009
  • Summary: NIGER RIVER, MALI (RECENT) (REUTERS) BOZO FISHERMEN ON THEIR BOAT VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN ON THE RIVER FISHERMEN DRAWING IN NETS FISHERMEN THROWING OUT NETS VARIOUS OF FISHERMAN REPAIRING NET (SOUNDBITE) (Bambara) MAMA DIABATA, FISHERMAN, SAYING: "The fishing equipment is very expensive. When we set off on our expeditions, we don't have money, so we buy the equipment on credit which makes it more expensive. When we get back and pay off the credit, there is hardly anything left to live on." LAKE DEBO, MALI (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN PULLING NETS INTO SHORE VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN REMOVING FISH FROM THEIR NET FISHERMAN IN BOAT WITH HIS CATCH FISH IN THE BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (French) ABDOULAYE SARO, FISHERMAN, SAYING: "I see this type of fish today, but I haven't seen it for seven years." VARIOUS SPECIES OF FISH (SOUNDBITE) (French) ABDOULAYE SARO, FISHERMAN, SAYING : "If you touch this fish when it's in the water, you'll be electrocuted." SARO DISPLAYING A FISH MAN PADDLING IN BOAT SARO DISPLAYING A FISH FISHERMEN DISPLAYING VARIOUS KINDS OF FISH (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOUSSA THIAO, VILLAGE CHIEF, SAYING: "I am very pessimistic because I don't see how you can stop more and more people from fishing and thereby decreasing the population of fish, I really don't see how." MOPTI, MALI (RECENT) (REUTERS) TRANSPORT BOATS AT MOPTI FISH HARBOUR VARIOUS OF WORKERS PACKING FRESH FISH IN ICE
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mali
  • Country: Mali
  • Topics: Nature / Environment,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6T9GF9N6W8IMJDUTXCOFFUG
  • Story Text: Mali's Bozo community have fished the waters of the inner Niger Delta for centuries, moving from their villages when the water levels drop around November.
    The semi-nomadic people set up temporary camps as they move along the Delta's waterways, ending up at Lake Debo early in the year.
    Most of the huge lake disappears during the dry season which lasts from March to June.
    The numerous ponds that are left, are full of fish for the Bozo to catch.
    But the community is facing a variety of challenges, one of which is the expense of fishing equipment.

    "The fishing equipment is very expensive. When we set-off on our expeditions, we don't have money, so we buy the equipment on credit which makes it more expensive. When we get back and pay off the credit, there is hardly anything left to live on," said Mama Diabata, a Bozo fisherman.
    Fishermen also face high taxes imposed by the government and community leaders.
    Another problem the Bozos are facing is overfishing as the number of people living in the Delta increases. As a result, the Bozo have to paddle further and sink their nets deeper to snare the amazing variety of fish that are found in the Delta.

    "I see this type of fish today, but I haven't seen it for seven years," says Abdoulaye Saro, another Bozo fisherman. "If you touch this fish when it's in the water, you'll be electrocuted," he added.
    Moussa Thiao is a retired teacher and the chief of a Bozo village. He's been observing the changes in the inner Delta for years.
    He says the Delta and its fish have not yet recovered from the serious droughts of the 1970s and 1980s.
    Thiao also says that too many private fishing companies have moved into the area in the last few decades.

    "I am very pessimistic because I don't see how you can stop more and more people from fishing and thereby decreasing the population of fish, I really don't see how," he said.
    Fishing accounts for about three percent of the gross national product.
    The industry's exports make up about eight percent of the country's total exports.
    Most of the fish from the Delta is marketed in Mopti, the liveliest of Mali's ports. Only between 10 and 20 percent of the fish is ice-cooled, the rest is dried or smoked.
    Wholesalers transport fish from Mopti by truck to other parts of Mali and also to Ivory coast, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
    The inner Niger Delta is West Africa's biggest fresh water fishing area. The average annual catch is 85,000 tonnes. Fish is a bigger part of the average Malian diet than beef.
    Fishing is big business, but it could also spell the death of the Bozo's fishing traditions in the inner Niger Delta.
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