Reed Ozretich, researcher with the Institute of Aquaculture, sends the following update on his survey work in Cote D’Ivoire

This fieldwork seeks to evaluate the current vulnerability of Ivorian fish traders and fishers to climate change, Covid-19, and other external challenges while gauging their capacity to adopt new, more climate-resilient practices, including the use of molluscivorous species for capture and marketing. Myself, my interpreter, and Mr. Benjamin Atta, a fellow PhD student at the Oceanographic Research Centre here in Abidjan have been traveling to 1-2 large markets each day around Abidjan where freshwater fish is sold (6 total).

At each market we have been deploying our online-based 40-question survey to gather commercial, social, and demographic data on the fish traders at the markets. We have also been informally chatting to the traders in order to gather data on the origins, different local names, and value chain of the west African lungfish Protopterus annectens. This lungfish is a focus of our work, as it’s molluscivorous behaviour, resilience to the effects of climate change, and native status, make it a prime candidate to determine if it can be used in a predator farming model to help control the spread of schistosomiasis via this fish predating upon the snails essential for any Shistosome parasite to infect mammals. We have managed to gather 8-15 surveys at each market per day, and now have 38 surveys from the freshwater markets of Abidjan. Next week we travel north and east to communities and markets closer to the lakes and streams where these lungfish are caught (Bouaké, Taabo, etc.), using the five different local names we have gathered to trace the value chains to their origins, while continuing to deploy the survey. We will also carry out key informant interviews on local community leaders, traders, and fishermen in the West of the country (around Daloa) the following week to get a more detailed look at where they can be found and the state of their fishery. The following weeks will bring fisher surveys, fish farmer surveys, stock assessments, drone-assisted population estimates, and trips to communities where fish farming and schistosomiasis endemicity meet. We also hope to share some of our preliminary data during a session at the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa, in June.