Fisheries in the Southern Border Zone of Takamanda - Impact ...

142 Mdaihli et al.
Basin and is separated from the southeastern section of
the Cross River National Park in Nigeria by the
Cameroon-Nigeria international border. Covering an
area of 67, 599 ha, TFR contains an additional 6,500 ha
of village enclaves. Matene settlements in Cameroon are
sandwiched between the Cross River National Park and
the TFR. The introductory chapter by Sunderland-
Groves et al. (this volume) provides full details of the
project area including a map of the village locations.
The most prominent water body in the region, the
Cross River, and its many tributaries drain southwestern
Cameroon and southeastern Nigeria. The Oyi River, a
tributary of the Cross River, forms the greater part of it’s
the Reserve’s western border, while the eastern and
southern borders of the Reserve follow small rivulets and
footpaths. Several small rivers flow south into the
Munaya and the Cross River. In the northern part of the
Reserve, the hilly terrain rises to more than 1,000 m with
mountains reaching up to 1,600 m.
Two seasons, dry and wet, characterize rainfall in the
study area. Typically, heavy rains start in mid-March and
last to mid-November, with the dry season extending
from the latter half of November to mid-March. Average
yearly rainfall ranges from 2,500 to 3,500 mm. Average
monthly relative humidity at Besong-Abang south of the
study area ranges between 76% and 89%. The mean
annual temperature is 23º C with an average maximum
of 30º C and minimum of 21º C. The hottest months are
December to February. Temperatures decrease with
altitude, and Mamfe at an elevation of 152 m records a
maximum of 34º C in March compared to a minimum of
18º C in January. Akwaya at an altitude of 1,500 m in the
northern extremity of the study area is much cooler than
Mamfe in the south, and receives more rainfall because
of the effect of the highlands.
3 Materials and methods
The data that form the basis for this paper were collected
in two surveys—a fisheries baseline study and a fisheries
framework survey of TFR’s border zone areas.
Takamanda: the Biodiversity of an African Rainforest
3.1 Fisheries Baseline Study
The fisheries baseline survey (du Feu 2001) provided:
• A checklist of fish species and literature on the
fishery in the study area.
• A description of the composition and the
approximate distribution of fish species and of
fisherfolk, fishing methods, and seasonality of the
fishery.
• A summary of fish processing and fish marketing in
the area.
Information on the fishery was obtained from
discussions with fisherfolk and through two
questionnaires, one for the whole fishing village and the
other for individual fisherfolk. Resident literate persons,
identified by the village chief and trained by the project
team, administered the individual questionnaires to 474
people in the study area.
To establish preliminary yields, a total of 72 catches
were measured over five consecutive days. Using that
information, it was difficult to estimate catch per unit
effort (CpUE) for different gear types because a variety
of fishing gear was used over the measurement period. In
addition, fishing activity was not estimated from
fisherfolk who had their catches weighed because they
were fishing at the time of questioning and therefore
would have an unrepresentative high level of activity.
Instead, activity questions were included on the
individual questionnaire, specifically: Had the individual
gone fishing over the past three days. This question alone
produced a total of 1,440 activity records or an average
of 3.04 activities per person (474 individuals) over the
three-day period.
To establish preliminary yield estimates for the
survey area and the whole of TFR, the total number of
fisherfolk was obtained from the questionnaires in the
south and from interviews with village chiefs in the
northern areas. The mean catches and activity levels were
derived from CpUE calculations for two villages and
activity data from the fisheries baseline survey. CpUE is
based on the general assumption that the number of