Ethel Mkandawire recalls her youthful days in Nkhatabay in northern part of Malawi, when she could come to the lake with her friends and they could be given smaller fish by fishermen for free. Those were the days when Lake Malawi and sometimes known as Lake Nyasa in neighbouring Mozambique and Tanzania, had a sufficient fish stock such that fishermen could leave out some of their catch for takes to children.
Over the years, Lake Malawi, the fourth largest fresh water lake in the world by volume, ninth largest lake in the world by area and second deepest lake in Africa, has been losing fish stocks at alarming levels. According to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) the 580KM long and 57KM wide lake which stretches from North to South of the South East African country is home to more fish species than any other lake in the world including a total of 700 species of cichlids. It is critical for the food security as it accounts for 70 percent of animal protein in the country.
However, according to Mkandawire, who buys fish from fishermen in Mangochi on the eastern part of the lake before reselling in the capital, Lilongwe, this richness is being pushed to the limit. She says now she has to scramble with other fish vendors for the few boats which land at the Msaka Landing Site with their catch.
“Being a fish vendor nowadays is a difficult and challenging trade. We have to fight for the few catch that lands on the beach as there are many other vendors like me who are looking for the same fish.” Says the 41-year-old mother of three.
Mkandawire who started this trade in 2005, says often she goes to the market in Lilongwe with few fish stocks than the demand on the market.
“Most of the times when I take the fish to the market in the capital, I am not able to satisfy the demand for fish in Lilongwe where there are a lot of customers because I cannot get enough from the lake fishermen. There are a lot of fishermen on the lake yet little catch.” she bemoans.
Mkandawire’s experience is corroborated Ayubu Umali, a fisherman in the same area of Msaka who says fish stocks in the lake have drastically reduced over the past three decades saying these days they are lucky to arrive at the beach with enough catch. He says in late 1980s and early 1990s, the fish catches were huge and they could do this not far from the shores of the lake, unlike these days when they go far in order to get a catch which at times is not a guarantee too.
“Back in early 1990s, we did not have to go even a kilometre from the shores, yet the catch was massive. The fish stock was evidently sufficient such that even primary school going boys could catch large sized fish using hooks while seating on the rocks.” He says
Umali says as a result of dwindling catch from the lake, they struggle to support their families sufficiently nowadays because they do not earn much from their all night fishing expeditions.
Recent data show that fish stocks in the lake declined by 93 percent between 1990 and 2010. The trend has been worsening. There has been a 9.2 percent drop in fish landings which has reduced per capita fish consumption from 9.65 kilogrammes in 2023 to 8.5 kilogrammes in 2024. This is as a result of overfishing being driven by the demand of a rapidly growing population which currently stands at 20 million.
The dwindling fish stocks threaten the livelihoods of about 60,000 Malawians who are directly employed as fishermen. There are a further 350,000 people in the fish value chain some of whom are involved in fish processing, distribution, boat making and repair services and other associated trades according to a report by the 2025 Department Fisheries Report.
Apart from Lake Malawi, the country has other major bodies of water namely Lakes Malombe, Chirwa, Chiuta and the Shire river which have large scale fishing activities. However, combining all the catch from these water bodies, Malawi only produces an annual output of 14,000 metric tonnes. According to Hastings Zidana who is the director for Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, this is way below the demand of 100,000 metric tonnes which the country needs.
“Fish protein is well understood to be biologically the best we can have for our people. However, fish uptake by our people is increasingly going down due to the reduced catch in the bodies of water we have such that while the demand for fish surpasses 100,000 metric tonnes, we only produce just 14 percent of it.” He says.
Zidana says as a department, they have been working to improve the fisheries sector as it is earmarked to contribute towards achieving the aspirations of Malawi 2063, a national development blueprint, through the Pillar Number 1-Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization.
“Malawi 2063 recognizes fisheries as and aquaculture sub-sectors as some of the priority areas with potential to sustain and accelerate economic growth and wealth creation in the country as such, we are empowering the private sector to thrive in the industry while we provide conducive environment.” Zidana explained.
In addition, Zidana says the 10-Year Malawi 2063 Implementation Plan (MIP1), prioritises aquaculture and fisheries transformation and commercialization, especially in contributing to agricultural diversification, supporting the establishment of mega aqua farms and anchor farms, access to aquaculture and fisheries inputs, structured fish markets as well as scaling up of research, science, technology and innovation so that we reach fish production of 750,000 metric tonnes per annum by the year 2063.
In order to improve the country’s fish production, some Malawians have ventured into cage fishing on the lake. Currently there are 20 investors who are running 30 fish cages on the lake. One such people is David Nkhwazi who owns Malawi Aquaculture Limited which has invested in cage fishing in the central lakeshore district of Salima, just a two-hour drive from the capital, Lilongwe.
With an initial capital of US$4 million, Malawi Aquaculture Limited has invested in four cages which were installed on the lake where they are producing the delicious Chambo (Oreochromis karongae) and Kampango (Bagrus meridionalis). The company is also involved in the production of fingerlings for various breeds of fish using selective breeding techniques while outgrowing takes place in the cages in the lake.
Nkhwazi says aquaculture industry has a potential to create millions of jobs through investments if authorities put incentives that attract investors like making aquaculture a priority sectors unlike at the moment when it faces several hurdles which are stifling its growth. He points out several taxation challenges, one of which is the exclusion of aquaculture from the agro-processing bracket which has resulted in the industry being left out of incentives.
“Currently Malawi Revenue Authority does not recognize aquaculture as agro-processing. This means aquaculture, despite being an agro-processing industry, is not benefitting from incentives put by government for agro-processing industries to encourage value addition. We hope government will look into it and designate aquaculture as a priority industry.” He says.
Nkhwazi also says since aquaculture is a capital intensive business venture, lack of affordable financing is a huge challenge at the moment. However, he thinks this can be addressed by the authorities if they make aquaculture a priority industry. He also bemoaned the shortage fish feed on the Malawi market saying the feed most fish farmers are using is imported.
However, others have pointed out the use of sinking feed and chemical fertilizers which is an integral part of production in aquaculture, if not properly managed could be potential sources of pollution in fresh water bodies, a threat to biodiversity and sources of Green House Gases (GHGs).
Malawi is ranked 158th in global fish consumption with consumption rate of about 770 metric tonnes. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates Malawi needs US$1.35 billion investment in fisheries to create 2 million jobs and meet the soaring demand for fish by its population. The global fish market value is US$1.09 trillion and is expected to grow to US$1.24 trillion by 2030.