Distribution of Fishery Incomes between Fishers and Fishing Gear Owners: A Case Study of Lake Tanganyika Fisheries in Kigoma, Tanzania

This study attempted to show the distribution of fishery incomes between fishers and fishing gear owners with particular focus on Lake Tanganyika. The study was cross section case study. Field work took place in Kigoma, Tanzania along the lake from May 2010 to August 2011. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methodology was used to gather information from both fishers and fishing gear owners. The sample size for the study included 33 fishers and 15 fishing gear owners. The study came up with mixed results that show that both fishers and fishing gear owners generated profit during high catch season (October – March) and experienced low profit and even losses during low catch season. During high catch season, a fisher with the highest monthly income netted Tshs. 5.5 million and that with the lowest netted 0.96 million. With fishing gear owners, the highest monthly income earner netted Tshs. 22.7 million while the lowest income earner netted as much as Tshs. 2.4 million. On the contrary, fishers were hardest hit during low catch season (April – September). Neither was the situation for fishing gear owners appealing; the monthly incomes generated during low catch season were far below those generated during high catch season, with very few exceptions. The study concludes that fishers are poor because of unequal distribution of the incomes that were generated. Fishers got very little of what they generated while fishing gear owners, who actually did not do the actual fishing task, took the lion’s share of what was generated.