African Fish Stories

[@russellhanley4417]

Very well presented with a good deep dive into the problems the river faces. Personally I doubt there will be a good outcome for the fish or the people dependent on them. Yet another example where population growth and access to modern technology (in this case monofilament nets) will eventually overwhelm the resilience of the fish stocks. Unless there can be sanctuary zones that actually work. I have worked on projects in similar settings in Asia and all sadly failed because sanctuary zones could not be protected from exploitation.

[@Transkei_Stories]

Thanks got watching and engaging. It’s certainly a tough one. Let’s not give up hope. 🙏🏼

[@patrickhilger1844]

Good job well done .Good journalism. Greetings from the Kavango River

[@Transkei_Stories]

Much appreciated! 🙏🏼

[@TheChrisvl]

Fantastic episode, Ben. You are a masterful storyteller!

[@Transkei_Stories]

Hey Chris - thank you! Hope you're well. Let's hope we can pick up production this year. Hard to find the money support!

[@beatrizr.7565]

amazing video- get this guy his own TV show!!!

[@Transkei_Stories]

That would be great! Thanks for your encouragement!

[@rickytoomey7042]

Love it Ben. Fantastic thanks

[@Transkei_Stories]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jamesd856]

Bru, your content and style are awesome. Halala! 🙌🏽

[@Transkei_Stories]

Thanks James! I am encouraged.

[@sigitas.a]

I am from Lithuania. And fishing as a hobby here is on obsession level. Probably no other country in the world has so so many fisherman like Lithuania does. Thank you for video and telling your story.

[@Transkei_Stories]

My pleasure. Thank you for watching.

[@kenneth9874]

There's millions in the US

[@bertbakker6336]

Thanks for this Ben. Very strong message, I've gone through the exact same process of coming to realise fishing for fun is no longer sustainable. I still love to catch and eat. Catch and release doesn't make sense to me anymore. The idea of creating enough safe havens for fish to recuperate and reproduce could work. The local community will only police it when they see it is effective though. Sjooo, its a difficult one.

[@Transkei_Stories]

Thanks for watching and getting it. I’ve also turned to catch and eat - and I haven’t caught a single fish. 🤣

[@bertbakker6336]

@Transkei_Stories 🤣

[@BoxVanMan]

I have the same dream.

[@Transkei_Stories]

🙏🏼

[@mtfishingguidejohnson851]

Great Message Hope I can Fish with you some day Much Love and Respect. Peace Love Unity 2025 Fix the Rivers of the World ♾Z

[@Transkei_Stories]

🙏🏼

[@Wynngregwynn]

You've def got it...

[@Transkei_Stories]

Thanks Greg! happy New Year.

[@zeph6439]

The most logical course of action would be to set up hatcheries so as to continually restock the river and thus maintain the fish populations IMO. This would also enable job creation - otherwise it's a one way street. The remedy for aqua depletion is aquaculture, and if set up and managed correctly it's really not rocket science.

[@Transkei_Stories]

I think that with the Kavango 1st prize is to keep the river as natural as possible. Hatcheries come with their own challenges - especially to the native / indigenous breeding stock and their dna that evolve with the river. I think aqua culture is a no-brainer when it comes to producing affordable protein, but I think they must be kept out of the natural environments.

[@zeph6439]

@@Transkei_Stories Hi there! Thanks for the great documentary by the way. Aquaculture has many applications and can be approached in various ways, depending on what we want to achieve. What I was proposing was simply to breed with the river fish under controlled conditions, with a view to restocking the river directly afterwards. Catfish can be bred simply by removing the pineal gland from a male fish, located at the juncture between the hard bony plate of the head and the spinal cord with a surgical spoon (he will have to be a sacrifice I'm afraid), and admixing the pineal gland fluids, once crushed and mixed with sterile water, with the eggs of a female, which can be stripped as one would a trout. The eggs, now fertilized, are placed on mosquito netting in gently aerated water - fish tanks are perfect for the job, so long as they can be modified so there is a gentle free flow of fresh, clean running water through the tanks. Eggs have to be checked for fungal infections all the while and the infected eggs removed immediately until the eggs hatch out, and one can take it from there. The fish can be left in the tanks for a while and fed on fine, crushed aquarium pellets until they are big enough to release into holding tanks or dams and then released when they are fingerling sized. Mosquito larvae and chopped earthworms are ideal food for the fingerlings. Tilapia are best bred in ponds - breeding pairs (of the same species, which is important as they cross breed very well) are selected and placed in liner ponds or concrete dams and basically left to do their own thing in season. The adults can be removed once the fry are hatched, as predation may occur. The advantage here is that many thousands of fry can be raised without predation. The biggest challenge facing the aquaculturalist in Africa is predation by the local wildlife, so what works is bird netting placed over a sturdy wire grid affixed over the top of the tanks/dams/ponds and low voltage electrical fencing placed all around to keep otters etc out. It is also a good idea to have 24 /7 guards on duty in case anyone aside from the kingfishers, herons and otters gets any ideas during the process. Anyhow that is what I did with great success for a few years back in the day and wanted to just put the idea on the table for consideration. I agree that largescale aquaculture must be kept separate. But surely one could embark on such projects concurrently with a view to taking pressure off of the native fishes? It would really boost the local economy ... it's much easier and more cost effective to raise fish than to catch them. Fish that are raised in commercial facilities to a sellable size generally don't make it in the wild, but the fingerlings will. BTW when handling a tiger fish it's really best not to touch them at all - this removes the protective slimy layer on the scales and is probably the main cause of fish dying after being released. With tigers it's best to use a boga grip or similar or if the fish has to be handled for a photo, then a pair of wet rubber gloves works just fine, while the belly of the fish is supported. So long a fish are handled right, there's no chance of damage or mortality after release in my experience. All the best and keep up the good work!

[@zeph6439]

I forgot to mention that the pineal gland fluid of the catfish (best to use fish of around 2kgs, both sexes) can be stirred into the sterile water with a small feather - sounds primitive but it works. Cheers

[@Transkei_Stories]

@@zeph6439 what does that do to the water?

[@zeph6439]

@@Transkei_Stories kzbin.info/www/bejne/gna3mnmZfN9-gposi=Uuf0hfWAw0E0VNkN

[@ovidijusgedminas9079]

I'm Lithuanian and you diseve ma subscribe 😇

[@Transkei_Stories]

Thank you!

[@seb99ful]

the question is, how do we prevent population growth, so that fewer people have better lives than more people living in permanent struggle for survival with an ecosystem that, no matter what regulations or enforcement simply cannot support such population size. How? This is the same issue all over africa.

[@Transkei_Stories]

I’m not sure that over-population is an issue all over Africa. Rwanda is Africa’s most densely populated country and is 22nd on the list of the world’s most densely populated countries. Being poor is one thing that leads people to over-exploit natural resources. Are you suggesting that because they are poor they should reduce their populations? Should only developed countries be allowed to have a growing population? Ironically, developing countries are the ones with negative birthrates, a situation more dire than high birth rate.

[@seb99ful]

@Transkei_Stories in today's world negative birthrate is anything but negative for the world as a whole. if you put a pause on world population now we would still over exploit non renewable resources and deplete the environment no matter what regulations we put in place. you have to be realistic, creating wealth in certain parts of the world such as remote parts of Africa, so that people do not need to love directly off the land and deplete their local environment is not realistic in countries with unstable and corrupt governments, fact. So yes I stand by my view that limiting and reducing populations in certain parts of Africa is the only way to prevent irreversible environmental degradation. Just look at Maputaland as an example, the areas around Kosi Bay, it's past the tipping point and that environment has been irreparably damaged due to massive increase in population. Same for many parts of Africa, be realistic not idealistic when dealing with Africa. Same goes with hunting, doing excellent work in building schools and feeding villagers living within their hunting concessions, leading to increased populations which in the long run will need more space, so if considering the model in a long term holistic view, it is not sustainable even if in the short term it seems to be

[@Anderware]

Relative to the rest of the world I live in a very rural and low population density area in the USA, and where on a practical level almost nobody is dependent on sustenance catching of fish to stay alive (despite what they might think). And yet our fisheries are still almost universally in decline, despite aggressive hatchery programs and severe restrictions on fishing. Population density and economic conditions are but one piece of the puzzle, it is a complicated and multifactorial problem. I don't hold out much hope for the fish.