The disappearing sardines

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:12:00 +0000

Along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, there are two kinds of fishermen: the ones who fish for an abundant nocturnal sardine called dagaa and the ones who don't. Retired fisherman Myonge Seph has spent most of his life going out at night to trail that small fish, a silvery wonder the length of an index finger.

When the moon is not full, the fishermen of his village, Kalalangabo, paddle out a few hundred meters in search of a good spot to catch dagaa in their nets. They dangle kerosene lamps over the sides of their wooden boats to attract zooplankton, the dagaa's main food. It's a classic mouse trap. Lure the zooplankton and the dagaa will follow. The darker the night, the more they are seduced by the lights above. From the shore, Tanganyika at night looks like a city and the Kalalangabo fishermen are just smudges of light in the distance. But thousands of fishermen float on the waters of Africa's deepest lake all night, waiting.

Salon.com > Jori Lewis

The disappearing sardines