Okavango Delta Management Plan - Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

5.2.4 FISHING
The Fishing Regulations have been drafted and stakeholders have been consulted
for their inputs. These Draft Fish Protection Regulations (2006) aim to discourage
unacceptable fishing practices and recommend issuance of fishing licenses at a fee
for commercial fishermen and no fee for subsistence fishermen, the use of proper
fishing net sizes and the introduction of a closed fishing season. Some highlights
include:
i. No person shall engage in commercial fishing without a commercial fishing licence.
ii. No person shall catch fish with gillnets exceeding a total of 150 metres.
iii. The period of time during which fish may be caught shall be the period beginning on 1 st January
and ending on the 31 st October every year.
iv. No person may catch fish in Botswana for recreation without a recreational fishing licence
v. No person shall catch and keep more than ten fish in one day for recreational purpose
vi. No person shall enter upon any land for the purpose of catching fish without the written consent
of the owner or occupier or duly appointed representative of such owner or occupier.
vii. No person shall catch fish at night except by the use of gill nets which have been set and left
stationary in the water before or after the night.
viii. No person shall interfere or tamper with gillnets at night.
ix. No person shall catch fish by setting nets across a lagoon entrance or river channel, drive fishing,
seining or using mosquito nets.
x. No person shall, without a permit from the Director, move fish from one water body to another
water body.
5.2.5 VEGETATION RESOURCES USE
The following proposed guidelines for the management and utilisation of vegetation
resources are strongly guided and informed by the Agricultural Resources Board
Act of 1974, the Agricultural Resources Board Policy of 1975 and the Agricultural
Resources Conservation Regulations of 2004 as the statutory tools. Therefore,
these proposed guidelines and regulations are to be statutory if adopted, and their
overall goal is to ensure sustainable utilisation of vegetation resources. The
recommendations are as follows:
i. Where possible, access rights should be reserved, i.e. each settlement or a group of settlements
should be allocated areas within which they will exclusively harvest;
ii. All veld products should only be harvested when they are fully matured;
iii. To harvest scarce vegetation resources and highly exploited vegetation resources such as river
reed, thatching grasses, and in some cases fuel wood, permits must be obtained from the relevant
authorities;
iv. Persons harvesting for commercial purposes should obtain a special license, for which a fee
should be paid;
v. Sanctions and fines should be imposed on people who contravene regulations for harvesting
vegetation resources, in line with provisions of Agricultural Resources Conservation Regulations,
2004;
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