An enormous lake in East Africa has fed and nurtured generations of people with its rich bounty of fish. But Lake Tanganyika's once-plentiful fisheries are now struggling, impacting millions who rely on it for food and livelihoods, and an existential race to understand the lake's fate is underway.
Government officials in Tanzania, one of four countries bordering the lake, are enacting temporary fishing bans to promote conservation and replenish stocks. However, scientists are also uncovering evidence that climate change shoulders some responsibility for the lake's declining productivity. In the background, rising demand for food in East Africa's fast-growing cities further strains the region.
In this project, freelance journalists Tristan Bove and Louise Kim analyze the mix of factors at play on Tanganyika’s shores from the perspective of the fishers and processors whose lives are shaped by the ancient lake, and who face the menacing potential future of Lake Tanganyika never being as productive as it once was. Officials, scientists, and local entrepreneurs are deploying an ambitious slate of solutions—from harmonizing fishing activity with the needs of nature, to building sustainable fish farms, and empowering communities to safeguard ancestral ecological resources—for a fighting chance.
