FOR minority communities who live near large rivers and dams like the BaTonga, fishing has become an art which has been perfected over the years while tactics to catch the fish have also been perfected over time.
For the BaTonga fishing tools such as harpoons, nets, fishing baskets and canoes have made it easier for the elderly BaTonga to catch fish in the Zambezi River and its tributaries.
It has become more of a hobby to catch fish in Binga.
A group of rumpled BaTonga fishermen, forearms weary from hauling nets can be seen monitoring racks of crucified fish lining the river beds and other racks reserved for smaller fish species such as kapenta.
The BaTonga have relied on a rich diet of fish for years, thus have perfected the art of fishing.
Visitors to Binga often make a stop over at the Siachilaba fish market where they are spoiled for choice with different fish types from, tiger, bottle nose to tilapia commonly known as Kariba breams.
Catching fish is a skill mastered over years, for one has to overcome the risks associated with fishing such as drowning, crocodile attacks or catching nothing at all.
The fishermen use different methods of fishing ranging from fish netting, hooking, spearing or using traditional trapping baskets.
Reeds found on the riverbanks are used to make fishing baskets, while nets are sewn from tree bark or other materials such as jute sacks.
Dugout canoes hewed from old mukwa trees are also used by the fishermen to catch the fish.
Each method is mastered over the years and practised when one wants to catch different fish species such as tiger or eel.
Although thousands schools of fish are hauled out of the Zambezi River and Kariba Dam every year, these fish sources do not run out because of fish conservation methods that are practised by the fishermen.
There are selected fishing spots where the fishermen are allowed to go and haul for fish using nets or trapping baskets.
Other spots are reserved for fishing lines while canoes are used in deep waters in the middle of the river where fish like tiger are caught.
The different fishing spots are used by boys, elderly men or women.
These territories are respected and any trespassing to other fishermen’s spots often results in violent clashes and fights.
Fish nests are avoided at all costs and they are often guarded and protected by old men who are appointed to oversee that the fish is mature to be netted or hooked.
Small fish trapped in fishing nets are thrown back into the water to grow and reproduce.
In addition, the BaTonga have over the years been jealously guarding ponds where non-migratory species spawn from being lost to poachers or possible pollution.
There are special methods to preserve the fish such as smoking, salting and drying, while other rare fish species are given to the headman or chief in the area.
Fish such as eels are roasted under hot ashes and not allowed to be eaten by children.
When an eel is caught its head is quickly cut off and thrown back into the water where it will start to grow again.
Due to the lack of raw materials to make fishing nets, some of the BaTonga have resorted to using mosquito nets to haul fish out of the rivers and dams.
While a lot of fishing cooperatives have sprouted up along the banks of the Zambezi , these use fishing trawlers which the BaTonga said should be discouraged since such nets catch everything within their reach, and the excess or unwanted types of fish are simply discarded, a process that contributes to depleting natural fish stocks.
To ensure that the fishing fleets adhere to rules of not overfishing, some cooperative members use patrol boats.
Although the Zimbabwe Environment Outlook report overlooked the fact that some of the country’s wildlife resources are under threat, it is sad to note that after 10 years working on the report, environmentalists have overlooked the fact that the country’s fish resources and other species on the endangered list continue to be under threat from a number of factors that include overfishing, poaching and loss of habitat.
It should also be noted that 70 percent of Zimbabweans live in communal lands where these species subsist.
It is a fact that fish species are disappearing fast in most communal rivers and dams where the loss of habitat and uncontrolled fishing has virtually eliminated many fish.
However, it would be prudent for the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programmes to encourage conservation of fish resources in the country’s dams and rivers so that the communities benefit in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-ASSET) cluster four.