Inland fisheries of North East Nigeria including the Upper River Benue, Lake Chad and the Nguru-Gashua wetlands II. Fisheries management at village level

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the distribution a nd characteristics of local level fisheries management systems in North Eas t Nigeria. A total of 53 villages was surveyed within the major fisheries i ncluding the Upper River Benue, Lake Chad and the Nguru-Gashua wetlands. Th ree types of management system were identified: traditional, modern and mix ed. Overall, the traditional management systems (defined as systems operati ng through officials of the traditional government administration, mainly v illage heads) were most common, recorded in 31 of the 53 villages. The main regulatory method was the control of access. It was concluded that traditi onal management systems are an important factor in maintaining the signific ant role of fisheries in local farming systems and rural livelihoods. Furth er research is needed to understand the likely processes of change, which m ay threaten this role in the future. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.