mibia, South Africa, Nigeria, etc., are making huge catches of fish while countries like the D.R. Congo do not and are still relying on importation from Europe.

2.4.2 Aquatic ecosystems management and biodiversity potential
Aquatic ecosystems are stocks of resources whose sustainable extraction should alleviate poverty. Africa and Madagascar are divided in 11 bioregions and 93 freshwater ecoregions (Roberts, 1975; Hughes and Hughes, 1992; Stiassny, 1996; Shumway et al., 2002). An ecoregion is defined as a large area of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, whose boundaries approximate the original extent of natural communities before major land use change (Dinerstein et al., 1995). These communities share most of their species, dynamics and environmental conditions and function together effectively as a conservation unit, usually following the boundaries of drainage basins and often serving as biogeographic barriers.

African ichthyofauna are rich in biodiversity and can be divided among 9 provinces (excluding the Great Lakes): Congolese (Zairian) province (690-700 species); Lower Guinean province (340 species); Upper Guinean province (over 200 species); Sudanian province (200-300 species); East Coast province (about 100 species); Zambezian (150 species); Quanza province (110 species); Southern (Cape) province (33 species); and Maghreb province (40 fish species) (Stiassny, 1996).

Most inland water fisheries are fished for basic needs by traditional and local communities, but fishing may not increase family income because of poor yields. Constraints include a lack of modern fishing vessels and insufficient knowledge of fish diversity, systematics and ecology (Shumway et al., 2002).

The Congo basin has very high endemism (about 80%), but fisheries management has failed in combining extractive uses of biodiversity with effective conservation policies. Riverine communities in the Congo basin use toxic plant extracts and some chemicals (such as pesticides) to catch fish from water systems. Fire is also used, especially during the dry season in the reproduction (frying) areas. These practices, of course, destroy fish diversity without the selection of individual sizes and species. Juveniles and fingerlings, which are the biological capital for the sustainable use of biodiversity, are the most vulnerable fish population groups. Increased poverty leads to high pressure on fish and in many cases the regeneration period is ignored. The decrease in fish size is sometimes due to this high pressure on the resource. “Use and conservation of renewable natural resources are widely (and wrongly) perceived as conflicting objectives. Foregone extractive use, for conservation, is viewed as a sacrifice, but the greater sacrifice (for future users) is to forego conservation. Conservation is itself a form of nonextractive use: insurance for continued production” (Pullin, 2004).

There exists a constant conflict between fish as food and fish as biodiversity, which requires wise management and sustainable conservation measures. The Congolese example illustrates four major challenges facing traditional fisheries:

1. The lack of appropriate fishing technologies that preserve
   fish capital (or the prevalence of illegal techniques
   and practices);

              2. The lack of sustainable local fish markets (low overall                     incomes from fishing activities);

 3.  Poor produce conservation technologies (poor quality                    produce and decreasing market value); and

 4. Overfishing of some water bodies (reduction of stock                    regeneration).
The combination of these elements is threatening aquatic biodiversity and the challenges facing capture fisheries and aquaculture in SSA are enormous. First, policy options that are available to address stock recovery may yield results in the long term, but small-scale fishers who are generally poor have immediate needs. Thus, fishers are usually reluctant to participate in implementing or accepting policies, such as seasonal closures (with short-term consequences), even though in the long-term food availability may increase.

Knowledge of fish stocks and the dynamics of aquatic ecosystems is important for designing sustainable fishery management policies. SSA countries lack the relevant data and as a result formulate ad hoc policies to address problems of complex fishery systems. A typical example is the use of a uniform mesh size regulation to curtail overexploitation of a multispecies fishery that is characterized by seasonal upwellings, which is also a transboundary resource.

The need to completely enforce fishing regulations that affect both small-scale fishers and industrial fleets is crucial. The limited budget of state institutions responsible for enforcing regulations coupled with widespread corruption among fishery officers and the fact that fishers consider some regulations illegitimate paints a gloomy picture for the industry. State institutions in Africa are generally
weak and unable to cope with the activities of industrialized fleets (Fisheries Opportunities Assessment, 2006) (Box 2-1). Moreover the judicial systems in most countries are reluctant to enforce fishery regulations, which are generally considered of less importance.

There are a number of potential challenges that confront aquaculture in SSA. These include the provision of information, training and credit, the availability of fishmeal and fish oil for cultivation and mitigating the likely environment impact of semi-intensive aquaculture. Substituting vegetable protein for fishmeal may result in a higher mortality rate and low rate of growth of several aquatic species (Delgado et al., 2003). Intensive aquaculture requires the