In the light of recent efforts to open up Lake Nasser to the private market, Dena Rashed looks into the resource's unexplored potential To start their four-day fishing trip on Lake Nasser, a group of fishermen in galabiyas load their brightly coloured boat with food, water and ice, the latter to help keep the catch fresh. For decades these and others of their ilk have been earning a livelihood on the lake, their excursions unimpeded save by overpowering illness or breakage. And for as long as they care to remember they have depended on the state-owned Egypt- Aswan Company, two of whose divisions will purchase their produce once they dock. Measuring 1.25 million feddans, with some 32 species of fish to its name, Lake Nasser was providing adequate supplies until the early 1980s, when production started to plummet. Over the last two decades fishermen have proceeded with their work despite the steady decrease in the quantity of fish they produce -- from 34,000 tonnes in 1981 to a mere 4,000 in 2000. Concerned about plummeting production figures, in 2001 (following a committee inquiry headed by former prime minister Atef Ebeid), the authorities decided to bring in private investors -- Law 354, issued last year by former agriculture minister Youssef Wali, re- allocated fishing space, giving the fishermen's associations only 60 per cent, with 40 per cent handed over to six private-sector companies -- a move that generated unrest among fishermen, resulting in conflict between the associations and the governorate. As the issue spiralled out members of the People's Assembly accused the governorate of privatising the lake at the expense of fishermen. "It was not up to me to make these decisions," Governor Youssef -- also the head of the Higher Committee of Lake Nasser -- responded. "I was merely assigned the responsibility of executing them." The companies, he said, promised to increase production to over 40,000 tonnes per year by fishing at lower depths and developing breeding farms, thereby exploiting the full potential of the lake. Fishermen were particularly sceptical about the companies' motives. "We have been fishing in this lake for years," Gamal Abdu, head of the Nubian Association of Fishermen, one of three major associations, explained, "and one thing we know is that there are no fish to speak of in deep waters -- all the fish are in the shallows. These companies have no experience of the lake," he added. "We doubt they'll be able to make a difference." Likewise with the proposed farms, to be developed in the shallows: "Such experiments have been undertaken and they failed. Water levels are too low, and Nile crocodiles consume too many small fish." The general belief among fishermen is that, since the deeps afford little if any produce, the companies will end up sharing the shallows with them. "If they find anything in the deeps, good for them." Thus Talaat Hagag, who has worked the lake for the last 33 years: "We just hope they let us keep our waters." Omar Abdel-Baqi, a fisherman with 20 years' experience of Lake Nasser, agrees: "We never fish in the deeps -- all we fear is that the investors will end up cornering us. We merely hope they will let people live." Yet such scepticism is only to be expected, argues Olfat Anwar, an Organisation for the Development of Lake Nasser researcher: "It always happens when a new system is introduced." Since 1981, Anwar has participated in research projects undertaken in collaboration with the Japanese, and though the deeps have not yielded fish as yet, she believes it is too early to judge: "Previous experiments failed because of inadequate research -- now everything is being undertaken according to scientific studies aimed at practical benefit." For his part Youssef argued that, while there has been much criticism of the government's handling of Lake Nasser -- the state, he says, was frequently accused to negligence -- the reasons behind plummeting production figures were by and large ignored. "Some fishermen employ illegal methods," he explained, "or else they use unlicensed boats." But the main problem, he asserts, is smuggling: no incidents have been recorded, but governorate information states that 60,000-70,000 tonnes of fish are yearly smuggled out of the lake. According to Hussein Omran, another Organisation for the Development of Lake Nasser researcher, "last year only 12,000 tonnes of fish were produced -- a meagre amount, considering the estimated potential of 80,000" -- something the government blames on smugglers, whom it declares to be behind the campaign against the new system. Smugglers continue to operate despite the best efforts of the Coast Guard, Youssef -- former head of the latter division of the army -- insists: "The only beneficiaries of the campaign are the maallemin who control the lake, making use of derelict expanses for smuggling. The new system will undoubtedly benefit fishermen, whose arena the companies will not touch -- and they will ascertain this for themselves soon enough." Among the positive developments that have occurred, Youssef cites the fact that fishermen have freely determined prices according to the laws of supply and demand since 2001. Fishermen no longer have to wait till the fish is sold to collect their money, he adds, and taxes have been reduced from 64 to 23 piastres per kilogramme: "The funds allocated to take care of the fishermen have also increased. Even more importantly, the state takes it upon itself to replenish the small fish to overcome the consequences of fishermen tending to overuse tight nets..."
