Destructive fishing practices and governance challenges in the Jemma River Sub-basin, Ethiopia: Fishers’ perspectives on sustainable fisheries management

Abstract

Destructive fishing threatens inland fisheries and aquatic biodiversity in Ethiopia, yet quantitative evidence from riverine ecosystems remains limited. This study assessed the types, extent, perceived drivers, governance challenges, and fishers’ perceptions of destructive fishing in the Jemma River Sub-basin, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and field observations. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied. Fishers were predominantly male (95.84%) with low educational attainment. Most (64.67%) of fishers engaged mainly in subsistence fishing for household food security. Traditional plant poisoning, river diversion and drying, and chemical poisoning were perceived as the three most destructive fishing practices. Fishers identified high fishing efficiency, low cost, local availability, weak governance, limited awareness, absence of fishing licenses, local tolerance, migrant fishers, and overfishing as major perceived socioeconomic and governance factors associated with the continued use of destructive fishing practices. Fishers’ perceptions differed significantly among rivers for six aspects viz., Persistence and escalation of destructive fishing; Use of destructive practices instead of other gears; Government efforts; Community awareness and Kebele-level management (Kruskal–Wallis test, p<0.05). However, perceptions of the effectiveness of previous control efforts did not differ significantly (p=0.527). Law enforcement, awareness raising, promotion of legal fishing gears, and expansion of community based co-management is essential for conserving fish biodiversity and ensuring the sustainability of riverine fisheries in the Jemma River system.

Keywords: Aquatic biodiversity, Kebele-level management, River diversion, Riverine fisheries, Upper Blue Nile Basin