Abstract: | Swamp fishing in the Bangweulu Swamps, Zambia, is described on the basis of field research carried out in 1983 and 1985-1986. The author outlines the organization of fishing, the setting up of fishing camps, and the composition of production units. He then analyses and compares the contents of the catch by different commercial fishing methods. Differences in the mode of fishing among ethnic groups are related to the length of approach to the swamps from the fishermen's home village, and to their system of cultivation. Most of the swamp fishermen are in fact essentially agriculturalists who carry on fishing for themselves, for sale and for the meat, without making symbiotic relationships with other fishing specialists. Both agriculture and fishing are an essential part of the life of the people around the Bangweulu Swamps. Abstr., bibliogr. |