03 Apr 2019

Dikgathong Dam, which is located at the confluence of the Shashe and Tati rivers and lies within both the North East and Central districts, is massive with a holding capacity of 400 million cubic litres at full supply.

It is a humungous body of water that stretches beyond the horizon. Attempting to capture it through the lens from one side is an arduous task. Infact, from the ground it cannot all be recorded through the lens, maybe an aerial view can do justice to this behemoth.
 For fishing enthusiasts and skillful artisanal fishermen alike, the dam has plenty to offer in terms of recreation and livelihood sustenance. Dikgathong is a fishermen’s paradise as the waters teem with fish ready for the catch.

 Infact, it is the playground of the artisanal fishermen, the kind that do not fish at an industrial scale. Fishing canoes traverse these waters, courtesy of the poverty eradication programme. The beneficiaries, 12 from the North East District and nine from the Central district, earn a living from the dam to escape the harsh realities of deprivation.

They exploit these aquatic resources, especially now when the rains have been scarce for arable agriculture to thrive.  A notable observation here is that fishing is a predominantly masculine vocation, with men and boys busy on the shore splitting open the fish caught from the nets with knives in preparation for their preservation before transportation to the village.

The waters are rich in abundance of fish, the most popular being the bream, the type that is considered the best delicacy. However, the weather can be unpredictable with intermittent winds which disrupt fishing at times. On a good day, fishing expeditions start before dusk with fishermen dragging their nets deep into the waters.

They set off in their canoes just as the sun is about to set in the horizon. As soon as the world prepares to sleep, these undeterred men set sail targeting all the good spots where they can ready their nets for an overnight trap.

The paddler of the canoe has to be skilled in the craft to navigate against the dead trees that still stubbornly stand in the waters. Competition is rife amongst the fishermen and respect is earned through catching the biggest fish.

A catch comprising of small fish earns the fishermen a little bit of ridicule, not to put them down, but rather to nudge them to be strategic when laying their fishing nets the next time around. For these men, fishing is an art, perfected for many years in the waters around the country and through these fishing expeditions to Dikgathong Dam.

After this, they exit the waters and go back to sleep knowing fully well that they have to be the first on shore the following day. At dawn, men take turns to invade the dam in an endeavour to salvage the fish caught overnight by their nets.

Alas, this dam is a giver of life, especially for the downtrodden who live on the margins of society. In the waters, birds drift along with the direction of the water, a few herd of cattle graze on the margins of the dam’s tributaries.  Despite its size, fishermen confront it daily to eke out a living for their families.

The men who ply their trade here look battle hardened in their rugged clothing, specifically picked for this vocation. Their canoe straddles the waters headed towards the deep edges where the fishing nets have been mounted in anticipation of a bounty catch.

Fish is a source of protein, especially for poor people living in rural areas who do not have access to optional protein endowed meals. Fishing, so they say, is an unpredictable vocation, like the weather it can bring both joy and sorrow on any given day, It seldom warns you for bad days, Never! The vocation is predicated on survival on a daily basis.

The fishermen pray every time they get into their canoes, praying that they come back not as human cargo, but with plenty of fish to survive the harsh realities of life in the village.  At their homes, families wait in anticipation for them to arrive with food for the day. On some days, they exit the water with faces filled with sorrow having managed to catch nothing at all.

For they understand the pain of not being able to feed the many mouths waiting at home.  Their nets are their ammunition going into the water, everything else is premised on luck. Any experienced fisherman knows that theirs is a profession where their quest for survival can be defeated no matter how meticulous they have prepared for their expedition.

It is possible for fishermen to come back empty handed because the fish have decided to stay deep down in the water. Indeed, while good days abound, days for pulling smaller catches are never far away, always lurking in the vicinity.

Despite their forays paddling their canoes deep into the dam, the artisanal fishermen know, however, that this is no guarantee that they will come back with fish. The situation is even dire on the dam’s shore where it is rare to make any catch due to the shallow waters.
 However, their determination is as tough as steel in that even if they do not catch anything, they always ensure to return with more zeal and fire power to succeed.

Artisanal fishing is an ancient form and comes a long way in Botswana. Pre-colonial societies who lived off the land practiced it for generations handing over the knowledge and skills to successor generations who have sustained it thus far.
 In every village, especially amongst the riverine people, artisanal fishermen form a crucial part of the social fabric as providers of protein intake amongst the rural folks.

Most of the fishermen are resilient and enterprising, focusing most of their attention on supplying fish to local communities. They also use sustainable methods such as nets which do not capture smaller fish which are necessary to sustain breeding.
 

In addition, they do not use motorized boats but rather use canoes which do not pollute the waters. However, for the artisanal fishermen of Dikgathong coming back from their excursion without a catch is not a major problem as they can make up for that on good days.
 They face a serious challenge from illegal fishermen who undercut their sustenance and livelihoods by stealing their catch.
They reckon that the fish stocks in the dam are enough to sustain them if it were not for those who harvest where they have not planted.
The fishing shores of Dikgathong are easy pickings for illegal fishermen in that the dam is nestled in thick bushes 20kms away from Matopi which makes it easy for them to evade detection by those who are licensed to fish.
 Even patrols by the wildlife wardens and officials from the water corporation are not enough to deter them.
 An artisanal fisherman, 50-year-old Mr Godiramang Obonetse, who has been employed by a poverty eradication beneficiary to fish, reckons that illegal fishing, if not stopped, can destroy livelihoods and drive communities that traditionally rely on fish deep into extreme poverty.
The former builder asserted that compared to his previous job, fishing is better and helps him and his family.
 “The illegal fishermen come at night knowing fully well that we have set our nets in the water. If you do not secure your canoe, they use it to go deep into the water and set their own nets or harvest fish from our own nets. When we come in the morning we find our nets empty,” he explained.
However, he said some of these had been arrested and came from as far as Shashe Bridge and Tonota.
Mr Obonetse mentioned that he learnt the craft in 1983 in his home village of Mandunyane and had been fishing at Shashe dam before coming to Dikgathong.
Another fisherman, 29-year-old Kagiso Elias of Matopi explained that he went into artisanal fishing after being retrenched from China State Company, which was constructing the North-South water carrier pipeline from the dam.
 He has been fishing at the dam since last year and believes that if authorities can deal with illegal fishing, Dikgathong can be a sustainable source of livelihood. BOPA