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Message: [QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 48153, member: 636"] Fishing crews on Lake Kariba want more time before returning to deeper waters. The Zimbabwe Kapenta Producers Association asked wildlife officials to delay new fishing rules. Chatwell Tanga leads the fishing group and says water levels remain problematic. His members believe the lake needs more time to recover from drought conditions. The fishers worry about losing their livelihoods if forced back to normal depths. Government wildlife managers ended special fishing permits on June 30. Professor Edison Gandiwa runs ZimParks and announced the return to standard 20-meter fishing depths. His department believes Lake Kariba has enough water for normal operations again. The new rules also restrict which fishing areas each group can use. Cross-basin fishing permits have been cancelled completely. Lake Kariba fishing has collapsed over the past three decades. Fishers caught 30,000 tonnes of kapenta during the 1990s compared to just 5,175 tonnes last year. The dramatic drop stems from overfishing and drought damage to the lake ecosystem. Bernard Munsaka serves as deputy chairman for the fishing association. He wants wildlife officials to conduct surveys before changing the rules. Zimbabwe controls 55 percent of Lake Kariba under agreements with neighboring Zambia. Recent surveys show Zambian boats actually catch more fish despite having less territory. Zimbabwe issued 539 fishing licenses compared to nearly 1,000 Zambian vessels operating on the lake. The fishing industry supports thousands of families across both countries. [/QUOTE]

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