A senior lecturer at the Malawi College of Fisheries, Esau Chisale, has developed a simple but effective technology that allows fishermen to smoke their fish as a means of preserving them.
Mr Chisale who has been teaching at the college for the past seven years said on Saturday that high poverty levels amongst fishermen meant that it was difficult for them to afford a fridge or ice to preserve their fish.
"I have been fishing myself for quite a long time in Lake Malawi and all these years we have been using either the sun or firewood to smoke fish," said Mr Chisale.
"Now with the declining forests, fishermen are looking for something that they can use to preserve their fish."
The smoking kiln is made of wood and underneath it there is an open space on which fire is lit. The fisherman burns the fire until the fish, which is placed on top but covered with a lid is properly smoked. Instead of firewood, the technology uses palm nuts that are aplenty.
"We are encouraging fishermen to use palm nuts because they are plenty especially along the lake shore areas. They provide the same heat as firewood and charcoal. In so doing it means we are also protecting the forests from being degraded," said Mr Chisale.
When asked whether the new technology will lead into over fishing or not, Mr Chisale said: "Malawi's fish stocks are in deeper waters where most fishermen cannot fish due to lack of good fish equipment. However, the only species that the country has registered a major decline is the tilapia species. This technology will not lead to over fishing"
Fishermen in Malawi welcomed the new fish smoking kiln.
"This is very good and to save our money from buying firewood," said Lajab Saidi, a fisherman in the Mangochi district. "I just need one iron sheet and two blocks of timber."
Raphael Mweninguwe
