This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Sitting in his narrow dugout canoe, Jean-Romeo Senguemboli frowned at the meager catch in his nets on the Central African Republic's Mbali River, where experts say deforestation is devastating the fish population. Felling trees to make charcoal for cooking or heating is a booming business in the forests around the southwestern town of Boali, where Senguemboli says he and his fellow fishermen are struggling to make a living.
Experts say deforestation is causing lower water levels on the river, making it muddier and reducing its oxygen content, which makes it more difficult for fish to breed. "The fishing's terrible," Senguemboli said after paddling out to pull in his long green nets through the river's brown water, only to find them nearly bare. "Our main problem is all the trees being cut down," he told AFP.
"If there are no more trees here, the earth is going to burn, the water is going to dry up even more and soon there won't be any more fish." Fishing is a precious source of income for many people in the Central African Republic, which sits in the Congo Basin, the world's second-largest tropical rainforest, after the Amazon. But sellers are having trouble finding fish for their stands at the local market in Boali. "Fish is becoming scarce while demand is growing.
Buyers even come from Bangui to stock up. The result: Even we, the residents of Boali, don't have enough fish anymore," market seller Flore Ouagbele said. "There's a real shortage.
Fishermen are finding fewer and fewer of them in the waters and it has become a serious problem," she added. Fishermen say the fish have also been getting smaller. "In the past, we used to catch much bigger carp.
With the heat waves and climate change, the fish have become smaller," Senguemboli said. With fish a key food source in the region, the impact is also felt on families' plates. WWF, the nature conservation organization, said in a report last year that Africa had the highest per capita annual catch of freshwater fish in the world, averaging 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
