Research and fisheries management: the uneasy relationship review of the Zambia-Zimbabwe SADC fisheries project
This report is an evaluation of the "Zambia-Zimbabwe SADC Fisheries Project". The project aims to establish effective fisheries management regimes for the various fisheries of Lake Kariba. The project has been funded by Norad and Danida since the end of the 1980s. The report argues that considerable achievements have been reached, particularly in a better understanding the ecology and the stock dynamics of Lake Kariba and in building biological competence. Achievements regarding the understanding of the dynamics of fishing communities and markets and in establishing effective management systems are more limited. The project was designed and has largely worked according to an assumption that good quality research in itself represents a sufficient means to establish effective management systems. The development around the lake demonstrates however, that management is about politics and also requires adequate political decisions. Recommendations are made in order to better integrate research results and policies.
