Migration and Conservation in the Lake Albert Ecosystem

The document examines how economic migration from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda's Buliisa District has led to the overfishing of Lake Albert. It identifies a feedback loop where declining fish stocks increase reliance on cheap migrant labor to maintain profitability, while weak governance and political disincentives prevent the enforcement of fishery regulations. The brief recommends curbing illegal immigration, strengthening the capacity of Beach Management Units (BMUs), promoting livelihood diversification such as fish farming, and protecting critical fish breeding grounds.

• Migration from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Buliisa District has caused a dramatic shift in Lake Albert's fish species composition over twenty years due to overfishing. Large predatory fish have declined, and small fish now constitute over 90 per cent of the catch, while the amount of fish caught per boat has dropped by nearly 30 per cent in the last five years.
• A feedback loop exists where declining fish stocks reduce economic returns, forcing boat owners to rely on cheap migrant labor to keep costs low, which in turn enables the continued expansion of overfishing.
• Local governance and enforcement are ineffective because the Buliisa District Fisheries Office lacks capacity, and Beach Management Units (BMUs) are hindered by politics and a lack of transparency. Elected officials are often reluctant to enforce regulations that would harm the short-term economic interests of their constituents.
• The decline of the fishery is driven by several key factors: an increasing fisher population, the use of illegal equipment, weak regulation enforcement, rising demand for fish in domestic and Congolese markets, and de facto open access to resources.

APA

d’Udine, F., & Crawford, A. (2015). Migration and Conservation in the Lake Albert Ecosystem. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-lake-albert-ecosystem-policy-brief.pdf

Chicago

d’Udine, Floris, and Alec Crawford. Migration and Conservation in the Lake Albert Ecosystem. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-lake-albert-ecosystem-policy-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=d’Udine |first1=Floris |last2=Crawford |first2=Alec |title=Migration and Conservation in the Lake Albert Ecosystem |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=August 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-lake-albert-ecosystem-policy-brief.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dudine2015migration, author = {d’Udine, Floris and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{Migration and Conservation in the Lake Albert Ecosystem}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/migration-conservation-lake-albert-ecosystem-policy-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }