Fishermen perch precariously on wooden scaffolds stretching over turbulent rapids in northeastern Democratic Republic Congo (DRC), hauling up wicker baskets in the hope of catching tilapia or a Nile perch – a time-honoured practice now threatened by overfishing.
Basket fishing was once the lifeblood of the Wagenya community, feeding them handsomely on a section of the mighty Congo River close to Kisangani, a city in Tshopo province. But fish numbers have dwindled in recent years, and the fishermen see little help from the government.
Many people, like 16-year-old student Kalimo, get by selling handcrafted dioramas of traditional Wagenya life to the few tourists who visit the impoverished area.
“It helps me to pay for school,” said the teenager, who was selling wooden models of small stick men holding large fish, for USD10. Kalimo, whose father is a fisherman, wants to become an engineer.
On top of the problems with fish, the Wagenya – split between three main clans and five sub-clans – are bickering among themselves.
The position of traditional chief, who serves as an intermediary between the community and the government, is unfilled because of factional infighting.
Augustin Tangausi, who described himself as a “fisherman and servant of God”, said this means problems are piling up. “Everyone does as he likes and we have no-one to defend our rights”.
Augustin Issa Balabala, described as the manager of Wagenya Falls, said fishing offered nothing anymore. “We live off visitors, off the little they give us,” he said, sitting on a plastic chair in a straw hut.
Tourists have been few and far between since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, although there is hope that more may begin to come.
The DRC’s environment minister visited Wagenya Falls at the beginning of the year and promised investment to attract visitors.