the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

facilities that do not have boats, stated that they were able to organise fishing trips
for tourists if requested, through agreements with other tourist facilities and
operators, or through hiring locals to take tourists out in their boats for the day.
According to the 224 tourists interviewed in the Okavango Delta between 2003 and
2004, 139 individuals, or 62 percent, stated that they already had, or intended to,
fish while they were in the Okavango area. The remaining 85 tourists, or 38 percent,
stated that they had not/did not intend to participate in any fishing activities in the
Delta region. This demonstrates the extent of the demand for fishing opportunities by
tourists in the Okavango Delta and Panhandle area. Most of the tourists who stated
that they intended to/had fished were interviewed in the Panhandle and Upper to
Central Delta areas. Fewer tourists stated that they were interested in fishing in
Maun, and the Moremi Game Reserve. Of the 139 individuals that stated they had,
or were going to fish in the Okavango, most of these tourists intended to, or had,
fished from boats belonging to the tour operators/tourist accommodation facilities,
out in the larger channels of the Okavango. Only approximately five percent of the
tourists stated that they had only fished from the river banks of the accommodation
facilities in which they were staying.
Of the 63 managers of tourist accommodation facilities interviewed, 50 (79 percent)
stated that they had restaurants or provided meals to tourists. In most of the
remaining 21 percent of facilities, it was the responsibility of the tour operators to
provide meals for the tourists, or in the case of independent travelers, the tourists
themselves. Locally caught bream was available at 44 (88 percent) of the 50
facilities that provided meals/had restaurants. All the managers of these facilities
stated that they bought the fish from local fishermen in the vicinity.
Recreational fishing in the Delta is arguably the most sustainable and ecologically
sound use of the area's fish stocks. Firstly, recreational fishing is generally done
using a line and hook, and hence only one fish is caught at a time, unlike with the
use of fishing nets, traps, etc. Secondly, only adult fish are caught with a line and
hook, and many tourists/recreational fishermen release their catches back into the
Delta. Lastly, recreational fishing in the Delta brings significant amounts of revenue
into the region.
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