The vast savannah in Guyana’s southern Rupununi region has varying moods. From April through August, the rainy season, it turns into a shimmering water world. By February, parts will be tinder-dry, sometimes fueling wildfires that rage across the grassland.
During seasonal flooding, waters from Amazonian rivers mix with those of a watershed that drains into the Atlantic. Fish from both river systems swim upstream to spawn in lakes and ponds, giving the region remarkable aquatic biodiversity.
This rich freshwater fishery has long been a key source of food for the people of the Rupununi Wapishana, Makushi and Wai-wai Amerindians, as well as descendants of British colonists and the indentured servants and slaves they brought to work in the colony.
Over the years, however, both the number of fish and the variety have decreased, as people who once fished just to feed their families began to need cash for purchases. Instead of fishing just with hook and line or bow and arrow, they began using nets, so they could catch enough fish to sell.
The population is growing in North Rupununi, more fish are being consumed and the fish population is declining, says Kevin Edwards, community fisheries coordinator for the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), which consists of toshaos, or leaders, of 20 communities.
Leaders of 14 of those communities in the north Rupununi sub-district have discussed proposals for managing fisheries to ensure a supply that will meet villagers’ food needs now and in the future, Edwards says. But the organization lacked the funds to refine and implement a management plan.