The Politics of Access to Kapenta Fishery and Some Issues Related to Resource Use in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, which has experienced white settler colonialism, racial inequalities over resources have historically been shaped. Therefore, it is essential to consider the political and economic context of the commercial kapenta fishery, the focus of this paper. This paper aims to identify the politics of access to kapenta fishery and issues related to resource use, and discuss them from the perspective of Political Ecology. Kapenta fishery and the Lake Kariba where it developed were rooted in the historical context of settler colonialism. Racial exclusivity existed in access to fishing permit before independence. After independence, patron-client relationships functioned in access to fishing permit among black operators. However, the changes implemented in conjunction with land reform, with the redistribution of permits and the introduction of a lease system, the actors involved in kapenta fishing became more diverse and, in some cases, more informal. The operators identified the decrease in catches, trading on the lake and fishing in prohibited areas as challenges. These violations were the result of a combination of institutional changes and practices by actors at various scales. Understanding the complexity of environmental-human relationships, as this paper demonstrates, is important as a foundation for discussions of resource management.