New network to bolster African fisheries

A new African network is aiming to increase the number of aquaculture and fisheries scientists on the continent and boost its dwindling fish stocks.

The Fisheries University Network (FishNet), led by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), was launched at the Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi on February 15.

It will recruit and train scientists on fisheries at member universities, in line with both national and pan-African development agendas.

Emmanuel Kaunda, regional technical coordinator for fisheries in the Aquaculture Department at the University of Malawi, quoted Food and Agriculture Organization figures that fish supplies have dropped from about 17kg per capita in the 1970s to less than 7kg per capita in 2006 for most African countries.

FishNet will facilitate information and resource sharing; policy dialogue; networking with strategic partners and mobilisation of resources, to address challenges holding back aquaculture and fisheries research in Africa.

As well as conducting research into inland fisheries and aquaculture development, FishNet will ensure that research findings find their way to fish farmers and fishermen on the continent.

The network is expected to work with the Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF), a programme for developing fisheries reforms in Africa. It will also receive around US$10.7 million from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), said Tim Bostock, a senior fisheries advisor at DFID.

The initiatives follow NEPAD's action plan for fisheries and aquaculture development endorsed by African heads of state at the Fish for All Summit in 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria.