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

According to a personal interview conducted with Cato Mosephele, fisheries biologist
at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre in Maun, on the state of fish
resources in the Okavango River/Delta, fish are perhaps the least affected resource
by tourism development in the area. The number of fish that recreational fishermen
catch each year is not large enough to cause any significant damage to this
resource. The greatest threats to fish in the Okavango lie in fact, in the secondary
impacts of a number of factors. These include:
• Pollution of the Okavango Waters by human development and agricultural
production;
• Oil spillages from motor boats;
• Wave action caused by motor boats disturbing fish nesting sites;
• Decreases in the size of the Okavango Delta, and subsequent shrinkage in
flood-plain breeding sites for fish; and
• Future commercial agricultural, damming and hydro-electric schemes which
may constrict the flow of the Okavango's waters.
With regards to local perceptions on recreation fishing and tourism in the Delta,
there are increasing complaints by local fishermen that tourist boats travelling
throughout the Okavango Panhandle and Delta, disrupts local fishing activities by
scaring away fish and causing waves, which makes fishing from traditional mekoros
difficult.
7.2.5.3 Fisheries Management
As a significant proportion of Ngamiland's population rely on fish for subsistence and
food, the sustainable management of the area's fish resources is of particular
importance in ensuring the ability of local subsistence fishermen to continually
access meaningful amounts of fish. To sustain this key role that the fisheries play in
the local economies, the following management challenges need immediate
consideration:
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