FISHING METHOD NUMBER THREE- AMALALIKISHA / AMAPIILA

In Ci- Unga language, Ukulalikisha simply means to let something stay overnight. If a person is staying in a place for a night, we say ukulaala or ukulinda, the same word used for waiting. From ukulaala comes ukulalikisha, which can also literally mean to delay.

As you read this post today (23^rd December 2019, the fish ban is in full force (from December- March). Some researchers think this is unnecessary given the sources, breeding and life cycle of fish in the swamps. However, laws must be obeyed for, in most cases, they are made with good intentions that tend to benefit citizens. At the end of the ban, especially from April to August, most fishermen will be using Amalalikisha as their preferred technique of fishing.

Amalalikisha is just another commercial stationary gillnet fishing system we employ to catch different kinds of fish, mostly the cichlid species, nswikashi; by letting nets in water for a night. (Catfish is also caught this way). The type and size of fish you catch will depend on your nets’ size of mesh, the water level, weather, time of the year and location.  For instance, by end of March heavy rainfall usually floods grasslands (masenga) , making these areas conducive for fish to forage on fresh vegetation and enjoy well oxygenated water.  This makes such places suitable for fishing using amalalikisha.

As a fisherman, you need to correctly assess the place where to find plenty of the kind of fish species you want at any particular time. Wrong timing and failure to read and understand the movement of fish would result in poor catch. If you are associated with minimum catch every time you go fishing, you would be awarded the moniker, Ikolo or Umulonde, a pathetic poor fisherman. A skilled fisherman, Umupalu, would tell you from the way the wind is blowing that they will have a poor or good catch in a certain area. Umupalu will instinctively “feel” or “detect” the availability of fish and stays ahead of his prey. It’s such unique expertise that sets us apart!

For example, you will catch more catfish (umuta / imita) during the spawning period (akapalwe) between November and January in marsh areas; and after April when the water starts to recede and fish is returning to deep waters. You may find that your catch is more during dark nights than when there’s moonlight or when water is warm than when it is freezing cold.  You may catch more tillapia Sparmanii (matuku) and related cichlid species during the hot season from swamps.

The quantity of nets must be reasonably big for you to realize enough catch. Usually, the more nets you have, the better the yield. So, one company (nsanga) can use as many as one hundred by 50 yards of nylon gill nets or more each day. It will all depend on their organization and diligence.

Your nets will be fitted with floaters, which are corn thorns, makoloko, from trees such as Kalunguti. They will be fitted to the net using a twine at specific lengths from one another.  Sinkers will usually be made from baked clay balls with a small hole through the middle to allow them fit conveniently to the twine, on to the net.  Nets will then be set in areas where you expect plenty of fish as indicated above.

Malalikisha nets set in meadows like this. Picture by A. Kafuko

This will be done between mid-day until about 18:00 hours. Normally, the water levels will guide as to what width of the net you will use. Your nets can be cast in one place in a straight-line formation, parallel or perpendicular to the flow of water or you can set them in different places. You may have to clear a narrow path-like area called umutaata where you set the nets or, if the grass is not much, you just blend the nets along or around aquatic vegetation.

You will then leave your nets overnight to do their job and return early the following morning to check them. Depending on your satisfaction with the quantity of catch, you may leave the nets in the same place or take them somewhere else (Ukutesha amasumbu) for improved performance, if your catch was poor.  Nets can be checked once or twice a day depending on quantities of fish being gilled. The cycle is repeated almost on a daily basis. However, there could be need to remove damaged nets for mending, and sometimes, just for drying.

Other activities related to this method include ensuring your nets are cleared of debris to leave them unobstructed, and are not damaged by fish-eating marauders such as otters, mikobe. You therefore have to leave some scarecrows (fishinsha), constructed and dressed to look like a human being, which are deterrents to these destructive pillagers.

Where nets are set in lagoons, along channels and canals, there is less work involved, though techniques will be the same. Usually many nets set here will be of bigger size mesh such as mutobi meant to catch bigger fish for home consumption. However, other mesh sizes could be used here as well, depending on availability of the kind of fish sought.

AMAPIILA method is similar to the above, except that nets are not left behind for a night. This method means you set the nets during the day, wait for many hours for enough fish to gill and go back home. You may set them and wait from your camp, depending on how far your fishing area is. To increase the catch with this method, your nets need to be dyed (kutisha) to prevent fish from seeing them. As expected, you can only use this type of fishing method where you have spotted a lot of fish.  

As indicated above, the type of fish you catch in Malalikisha and Amapiila may include the cichlid type such as tilapia, polwe, mbilya, matuku, mpende, nsuku, nkamba and even mintesa. (More on English fish names when I dream or I consult my mentor Carl Hurchzemeyer.)

Please note that the methods discussed here are not exhaustive as I am merely writing down what I feel are the main highlights.

Till next time (2020) when we discuss another method. You can subscribe above to receive these posts direct into your mailbox.