FISH AND FISHING IN THE RIVERS

AND WETLANDS OF USANGU

Martin T. Walsh

Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, and

School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, U.K.

corrected version of a paper originally published in

East Africa Natural History Society Bulletin, 26 (3/4): 42-47

December 1996

{NB: the page numbers in this version do

not follow those of the published text, from
which a number of paragraphs are missing}

current address:
kisutu@hotmail.com
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996
______________________________________________________________________________
FISH AND FISHING IN THE RIVERS AND WETLANDS OF USANGU
This paper, based upon information
collected in 1980-82, provides a
preliminary description of indigenous
knowledge of fish and fishing practices in
the rivers and wetlands of the Usangu
Plains of southern Tanzania. It focuses
upon the knowledge, practices, and
perceptions of the Sangu, the original
inhabitants of Usangu, and reflects their
concern over the alleged overexploitation
of aquatic resources by more recent
immigrants into the plains. Borrowing
from more recent research reports, it also
draws attention to the wider and more
serious threat to the unique fish fauna of
this area which is posed by other human
activities in Usangu.
The Usangu Plains
The Usangu Plains comprise part of the
eastern Rift Valley. They take the form of
a shallow alluvial basin, which lies around
1,000 metres above sea-level and covers
an estimated area of more than 15,500
km2. Ruaha National Park borders the
plains to the north and the hills of Iringa
district to the east. To the south and west
they are hemmed in by the Southern
Highlands and the mountain ranges which
rise up from the northern shores of Lake
Malawi. The streams and rivers which
flow down from these mountains join in
Usangu to form the Great Ruaha River,
which meanders out of the plains to the
north-east after passing through the
Utengule Swamp. The annual rains
generally fall between December and May
and bring substantial flooding. As the dry
season progresses the floodwaters recede
and the many seasonal rivers dry up.
Water remains, however, in a number of
permanent rivers, deep river pools, and the
perennial Utengule Swamp.
Fish Fauna
The Great Ruaha and its tributaries
support a unique fish fauna. Until the
1
formation of the Rift Valley, the Ruaha
flowed westwards into what is now Zaire.
Following faulting, however, the river
formed its own basin and was redirected
eastwards, where it joined up with the
Rufiji. The Ruaha evidently took with it a
number of Zairean fish species, and some
of these have since speciated further to
produce endemics with a Zairean rather
than East African affiliation. The fish
fauna of the Ruaha Basin is still
imperfectly known, and the upper reaches
and tributaries, including the Utengule
Swamp, have yet to be investigated.
Unfortunately the aquatic resources of the
basin are now threatened by human
activity: over the last three dry seasons
the Great Ruaha between Usangu and the
confluence with the Little Ruaha River
has stopped flowing, and proposals have
been drawn up to bypass the Utengule
Swamp with an artificial channel.
The Human Population
The Usangu Plains are the home of the
Sangu (avasango), speakers of an Eastern
Bantu language (ishisango) whose
immediate affiliation is with other
languages of the Southern Highlands
group (Hehe, Bena, Wanji, Kinga, Kisi,
Pangwa and Manda). The Sangu are
mixed farmers who, in the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, had large
holdings of cattle. Oral traditions suggest
that hunting and fishing also played an
important role in their subsistence in the
past, and the Sangu derive their name
from a kind of basket (ulusango) which
they say was used to carry game meat and
fish up into the Southern Highlands where
they were exchanged for agricultural
produce. These baskets are still used in
Usangu to transport fish.
Since the colonial period the Sangu
have had to share the plains with growing
numbers of immigrants from outside of
Usangu. Most of these immigrants fall
into two broad categories: farmers who
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996
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have moved into southern Usangu from
the south and south-east, attracted by the
potential for irrigated rice cultivation; and
(agro)pastoralists from the north, attracted
by the rich pastures and permanent water
resources of central Usangu. The rice
farmers include large numbers of
Nyakyusa and Ndali from the south-west,
and a polyethnic mix of people living on
and around Usangu’s large irrigation
schemes. The (agro)pastoralists include
Il-Parakuyu Maasai, who first entered
Usangu in the 1950s, and large numbers of
Sukuma, who began settling on the plains
with their large herds of cattle in the
1970s. The indigenous Sangu now
comprise less than half of the total human
population of Usangu.
Sangu Knowledge of Fish
Fish comprised an important supplement
to the diet in Utengule, the former capital
of the Sangu chiefdom and village in
which I lived and conducted
anthropological research in 1980-82.
Some of the fish eaten in Utengule were
obtained from the River Mambi, which
runs through the village, as well as from
local irrigation channels, but larger
quantities were brought in by fishermen
from the rivers and wetlands to the north
and north-east.
The general term for fish in ishisango
is inswi (noun class singular/plural 9/10).
Most of the body parts of fish are referred
to using terms which are also applied to
other creatures (e.g. umutwe, 3/6, ‘head’,
umufupa, 3/6, ‘bone’, umwimfwa, 3/6,
‘sharp spine’, ‘thorn’). Special terms are
used, however, for the tail end of a fish
(umupepe, 3/6) and the mid-section
between the head and the tail (ishiviligati,
7/8, literally ‘mid-body’).
All of the Sangu names for fish
which I heard in Utengule are listed
below. This list is no doubt incomplete,
because I only noted names as I came
across them. It is also possible that Sangu
in eastern Usangu know of species which
do not appear in and around Utengule, or
have different names for some of the fish
2
which do. The majority of the Sangu
living in the eastern plains speak dialects
which are more closely related to Hehe
(spoken especially around Madibira) and
Bena (in Rujewa and the south-east) than
to the ishisango of Utengule and its
environs. Some phonological and lexical
variation in local fish taxonomies should
therefore be expected, though to what
extent remains to be established.
I have added to the list probable
linguistic cognates from the Preliminary
Guide to the Commoner Fish of the Ruaha
National Park and Upper Ruaha Basin
compiled by Ian Payne, Vicki Cowan, and
Philip Townsley (hereafter PCT). Their
‘local names’ were mostly recorded to the
east of Ruaha National Park along the
Great Ruaha, Little Ruaha and
Tungamalenga Rivers, and in the vicinity
of Mtera Dam. Hehe-speakers dominate
the polyethnic population of this area, and
were the source of many of the names they
give. It should be noted that linguistic
equivalence (or similarity) does not entail
equivalence of zoological reference: this
can only be established by identification
in the field. It is also possible that some
of the Sangu terms refer to more than one
species, or fish in different colour phases
or stages of growth. Nonetheless, the
comparison with PCT forms a potentially
useful starting-point for further research.
axansululansi, plural utunsululansi
(12/13), described as a small fish, also
called inxamlepa. PCT ‘sulu-sulu’,
Marcusenius macrolepidotus
(Mormyridae, Elephant Trunk Fish).
ilipandepande, pl. amapandepande
(5/6), described as ‘white’ (probably
silver) in colour, with a head the size of a
frog’s and spines which are painful if
trodden upon. Cf. the root of imende
(q.v.).
ilipongo, pl. amapongo (5/6), described
as having spines which are painful if
trodden upon.
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996
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imangwa, pl. imangwa (root -pangwa)
(9/10), described as a largish fish which
has a head like a snake and bites.
imende, pl. imende (root -pende) (9/10),
described as a small fish, traditionally
only eaten by the Sangu chiefs (avatwa)
but not their subjects. PCT ‘monde’,
Petrocephalus steindachneri
(Mormyridae, Elephant Trunk Fish).
indaata, pl. indaata (9/10), described as a
very large fish, only found where there is
a lot of water. PCT ‘ndetete’, Alestes
stuhlmanni (Charicoidea, Characins).
ingangala, pl. ingangala (9/10),
identified as Swahili ‘dagaa’, many of
which are traded from Lake Tanganyika.
PCT ‘ngala’, ‘dagaa’, Bycinus affinus
(Charicoidea, Characins). PCT also
record ‘dagaa’ as the name for two kinds
of Barbel, Barbus spp. (Cyprinidae,
Carps), and small fry in general.
iniingo, pl. iniingo (9/10). PCT ‘ningu’,
Red-eyed Mudsucker, Labeo cylindricus
(Cyrpinidae, Carps).
inxamlepa, pl. inxamlepa (9/10), an
alternative name for axansululansi (see
above).
inxampapala, pl. inxampapala (9/10),
described as a medium-sized fish, Swahili
(?) ‘gege’. PCT ‘ngege’, ‘perege’, Rufiji
Tilapia, Oreochromis urolepis (Cichilidae,
Cichlids).
insoshi, pl. insoshi (9/10), sometimes
heard as inshoshi, Swahili ‘kambare’,
catfish, described as the commonest kind
of fish in and around Utengule and
certainly the most widely fished, traded,
and eaten. PCT ‘kambale’, Sharp-tooth
Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Siluroidea,
Catfishes).
All of these fish are, as far as I know,
considered edible by the Sangu. The
Sangu also gather a kind of freshwater
bivalve called inxambalala (9/10). These
3
are not eaten (except, it is said, by the
Gogo), but the shells are used as a scraper
to clean pots. The Sangu also recognise,
but do not eat, at least two kinds of crab
(ilingengene, 5/6, and ilinxala, 5/6) which
are found by rivers and on irrigated farms.
Other aquatic creatures known to them
include a kind of terrapin (igobe-mshenda,
9/10), crocodiles (inwena, 9/10), otters
(inxonxomi, 9/10), and hippopotami
(imfuvo, 9/10).
As might be expected, the Sangu
possess an extensive vocabulary for the
natural aquatic topography of the plains.
The relevant terms include umuxoga (3/6),
‘river’, ulukwavo (11/10), ‘seasonal water
course’, inangano (9/10), ‘confluence’,
ililoxo (5/6), ‘ford’, umusalala (3/6),
‘waterfall’, ishogo (7/8), ‘permanent or
deep pool in a river’, ilihavaga (5/6),
‘stretch of floodwater which is flowing’,
ilivindi (5/6), ‘swamp or marshy area with
tall reeds and grasses’ (e.g. created by
river in flood), ililamba (5/6) ‘pond or
swamp’, inxandilo (9/10), ‘dried-up pond
or swamp’.
Sangu Fishing Techniques
I recorded the following traditional fishing
techniques, whose use varies according to
the seasonal abundance and type of fish
available and the kind of water resource
which is being fished:
The simplest method used is to catch
fish by hand, without or without the help
of a piece of cloth. This is quite easy to
do when fish are isolated in shallow pools
by the retreat of floodwaters and the
drying-up of seasonal rivers and other
(artificial) water courses. Boys and girls
often collect fish in this way during the
dry season.
indovano, pl. indovano (9/10), gaffs
(fish-hooks attached to a long handle), are
also widely used. This name of this
implement is derived from the Sangu verb
stem -lova, ‘to fish (in general)’, but a
special term (-sipusa) is also used to
describe fishing with a gaff.
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996
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inkwaligo, pl. inkwaligo (9/10) is a kind
of harpoon, made with a hollow reed or
length of bamboo with a thread running
through it and attached to an iron-hook.
Fishing with these (which is described by
the verb -kwaliga) is therefore a more
specialised form of fishing by hook, rather
than harpooning as such.
umuhomo, pl. amahomo (3/6), from the
verb root -homa, meaning ‘to pierce’, is a
fish-spear with a very long stem and
simple iron point. Their use appears to be
less common than gaffs.
imanga, pl. imanga (root -panga) (9/10)
is a simple hand-operated basket-trap.
This is placed over fish in shallow water,
which are then extracted by hand through
an opening in the wickerwork. I also saw
one of these traps in Utengule being used
as a makeshift cage for chickens.
umugonyo, pl. amagonyo (3/6) is a
non-return basket-trap woven from twigs
in the shape of a vessel with a narrow
‘inverted’ neck through which fish can
pass but have difficulty in escaping.
Unlike imanga, these can be left in rivers
and periodically inspected and emptied of
their catch. Wickerwork traps of this kind
are widely used by Bantu-speakers in East
Africa and called by cognate forms of the
same name (e.g. Swahili mgono).
The Sangu use dug-out canoes (called
ishimun(y)umbwi, 7/8, or ishipugo, 7/8) on
the Great Ruaha and other sizeable rivers.
There were, however, none in the
Utengule area, and I assume that their use
in fishing is restricted to a relatively small
number of specialised fishermen in the
north-east of Usangu. In and around
Utengule few Sangu men specialise in
fishing, though I knew of one seasonal
fisherman who came from Uhambule to
the south at the end of the rains in 1981
and remained in the village throughout
most of the dry season. The seasonal
abundance of fish and relative ease which
they can be caught means that a large
number of people, including children, fish
4
on an occasional basis. Traditional Sangu
fishing techniques reflect this relatively
unintensive pattern of exploitation.
Although fish have always been caught
and traded by specialised fishermen, for
the majority of the Sangu population
fishing is no more than a supplementary
activity which adds to the variety of their
diet.
New People, New Techniques
More intensive exploitation of the
freshwater fisheries of Usangu appears to
be closely linked to the large-scale
immigration of rice farmers and others
into the south of Usangu which began
during the colonial period. In addition to
the large number of Nyakyusa immigrants
who fish on an occasional basis in the
southern rivers, individual fishermen have
moved further into the plains specifically
to fish commercially. These include
Wanji and Kinga from the Southern
Highlands, as well as people from further
afield. In 1981, for example, one
well-known Fipa fisherman was living on
an island in the Shimba-Shimba (an
artificial channel which had earlier
diverted the course of the Great Ruaha),
and was said to have been there for the
past ten years. Sangu informants were
agreed that Wanji and Kinga had
originally only fished in Usangu
incidentally, while visiting for other
purposes. By the 1960s, however, some
of them were fishing the rivers of Usangu
commercially, and the number of
specialised fishermen has evidently
increased since then.
It should be noted that the
(agro)pastoralist immigrants in the north
of Usangu have not played a significant
role in this development, although they do
compete with mixed farmers and fishers
for dry season water resources. The
Il-Parakuyu, like other Maasai, do not
generally fish or eat fish, which they
consider to be similar to snakes. Although
some Sukuma do eat fish, many of them
share a similar aversion, and in general
they do not engage in fishing.
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996
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Sangu say that the Nyakyusa / Ndali
and immigrant commercial fishermen have
brought with them new methods of
intensive fishing, and that this has resulted
in overexploitation of the available fish
resources. The new methods include the
following:

The construction of large
cross-river fish-traps. I saw one
such barrier trap spanning the
River Mkoji (below its confluence
with the River Itamba) in
September 1981. Traps of this
kind were reported to have been
introduced by immigrant
fishermen.

The use of fish-poisons. In
November 1981 a Nyakyusa
fisherman and his wife were
arrested by the village authorities
in Utengule for putting
fish-poison (of unspecified
composition) in a pool in the
dried-up course of the River
Mambi. Cattle and people had
drunk the contaminated water,
resulting in the death of some
cattle (including one which
belonged to the Sangu village
(CCM branch) secretary) and an
outbreak of diarrhoea. An attempt
to take the case further, however,
was frustrated by the distance to
the police post at Inyala and the
police’s demand that exhibits be
produced and a specific accuser
appear. Villagers assumed that
the corruptibility of the police
would not make it worth their
while pursuing the matter further.
I did not record the use of nets in
fishing, though these are presumably used
by some commercial fishermen. I did see
small hand-lines being used in fishing near
Utengule, but these probably contribute
little to the kind of overfishing which
results from the use of the methods
mentioned above. It is quite likely that
some Sangu fishermen have also taken up
5
more intensive methods, though I did not
hear of any who had during my time in
Utengule. It appears that most of the
commercial fishing in Usangu takes place
much further to the east, in and around the
Utengule Swamp, and further research
would be required to determine whether or
not the historical outline I obtained in
Utengule also applies to this eastern area.
Conclusion
While the Sangu of Utengule were no
doubt correct in ascribing increasing
commercial exploitation to recent
immigrants, the principal threat to the fish
resources of Usangu probably now comes
from other forms of human land use. The
expansion of irrigated rice production
continues to swallow up Usangu’s
wetlands, while the use of pesticides and
herbicides on large state farms poses a
direct threat to fish and other forms of
aquatic life. The new rice scheme at
Kapunga is blamed by some informants
for the recent drying-up of the Great
Ruaha, though other sources speculate that
soil compaction and the modification of
vegetation by cattle in and around the
Utengule Swamp may have played a
greater role in this.
Whatever the case, it is clear that the
unique fish fauna of Usangu is under
severe pressure from a variety of human
activities of which commercial fishing is
only one. Current proposals for the
creation of a Usangu Game Reserve,
stretching down from Ruaha National
Park and incorporating the Utengule
Swamp, may provide no more than a
partial solution to the problem, especially
if agriculture continues to expand and the
rivers are overfished outside of the
reserve. A lot of hard work lies ahead in
exploring ways to manage the exploitation
of Usangu’s aquatic resources in a
sustainable way. The Sangu may have
achieved this when they were the principal
inhabitants of the plains, but it will be no
easy task among today’s growing
polyethnic population.
EANHS Bulletin 26 (3/4), December 1996 6
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Acknowledgements Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and

My research in Tanzania in 1980-82 was Natural Resources, Forodhani, P.O.BOX
funded by the then Social Science 2283, Zanzibar, Tanzania).
Research Council of Great Britain, with
additional support from the Smuts Fund
and Wolfson College in the University of
Cambridge. I gathered more recent
materials while undertaking a consultancy
for the British Overseas Development
Administration (ODA) on the Ruaha
Ecosystem Wildlife Management Project
(REWMP), and am grateful to Jim Harvey
and Phil Evans in Nairobi, David Salmon
in Dar es Salaam, and Dawn Hartley in
Msembe for making these available to me.
I would also like to thank Alison
Redmayne for commenting on an earlier
version of this paper, as well as the many
Sangu and others who shared their
knowledge of fish and fishing with me.

Bibliography
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Study, World Bank Appraisal Mission,
28 June to 12 July.
Payne, I., V. Cowan and P. Townsley
(1995). Preliminary Guide to the
Commoner Fish of the Ruaha National
Park and Upper Ruaha Basin, report
by MRAG Ltd. to ODA / Government
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Misinterpretation of Chiefly Power in
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__________________________________
Martin T. Walsh, Natural Resources
Institute, Chatham, and School of African
and Asian Studies, University of Sussex,
U.K. (current [1996] address: Zanzibar
Cash Crops Farming Systems Project,