Kigoma, United Republic of Tanzania, September 29 – October 2, 2026
The Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA) convened a Regional Technical Meeting on Fisheries, bringing together members of the LTA Regional Fisheries Technical Committee from the four riparian States — Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia — together with the Director of Fisheries, technical experts, consultants and Secretariat staff.
The meeting aimed to review, harmonize and technically validate several key technical documents, to support efforts to reverse the decline of pelagic fish stocks in Lake Tanganyika.
Participants reviewed the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) covering lake and land patrols, assessed the socio-economic and ecological impacts of the annual biological fishing closure (15 May – 15 August), and discussed measures to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing through stronger regional cooperation and community participation.
The meeting endorsed the harmonized MCS-SOPs for lake and land patrols, subject to the incorporation of Member States’ comments.
Member States called in particular for strengthened MCS capacities, harmonized fisheries data collection, stronger implementation of regional management measures and the development of alternative livelihoods for communities heavily dependent on fishing.
Closing the meeting, Dr Liwenga Emma Teresa, LTA Executive Director , welcomed the active participation of the four Member States and reaffirmed the importance of regional cooperation and science-based management in securing Lake Tanganyika’s fisheries resources for present and future generations.