Fishing in Rwanda
Senior 4 · Geography
Fishing in Rwanda
Lesson 1 of 4
25 min
Rwanda has no sea, yet in the 2024–25 financial year it produced 52,439 tonnes of table-size fish (MINAGRI, 2025). Every kilogram came from inland water: lakes, rivers, valley dams, ponds and floating cages. Figure 1 shows where most of it is caught.
Figure 1. Rwanda's main fishing lakes, landing and market towns, and the lakes with large cage fish farms in 2019. Drawn by Ganzaa; cage-farm lakes from MINAGRI (2019).
Study the map before reading on. Which side of the country has the one large, deep lake? Where are the many small lakes? Why might the towns on the Kivu shore matter more for fishing than Kigali, even though Kigali is the largest market?
Definition
Fishing: catching wild fish and other aquatic animals for food or sale. Fishing ground: a water body, or part of one, where fish are caught regularly, such as the open water of Lake Kivu off Rubavu.
Capture fishery: the catching of wild fish from lakes and rivers. Aquaculture (fish farming): rearing fish in ponds, tanks or cages where people control stocking and feeding.
Pelagic fish: fish of the open water, away from the bottom and the shore (isambaza). Introduced (exotic) species: a species brought into a water body by people, as opposed to a native species that was there naturally.
A national inventory counted 101 lakes covering 149,487 ha (REMA, 2009). Only a few are large or deep. MINAGRI's National Aquaculture Strategy (2023) compares the main ones:
| Lake | Area | Altitude (m) | Average depth (m) | Water temperature (°C) | Comment (MINAGRI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kivu (west) | 2,700 km², of which 1,330 km² in Rwanda | 1,460 | 220 | 23–26 | Deep and suitable; risk of gas release |
| Burera (north) | 55 km² | 1,860 | 179 | 10–25 | Suitable but cool |
| Ruhondo (north) | 26.6 km² | 1,752 | 68 | 10–24 | Suitable but cool |
| Muhazi (east) | 33 km² | 1,443 | 10 | 12–27 | Medium depth |
| Ihema (east) | 100 km² | 1,292 | 5 | 16–26 | Shallow |
| Rweru (south-east) | 133 km², of which 47 km² in Rwanda | 1,325 | 2.1 | 14–24 | Shallow |
| Mugesera (east) | 40 km² | 1,300 | 3.5 | 25 | Shallow |
| Cyohoha South (south) | 74 km², of which 19 km² in Rwanda | 1,348 | 5.2 | 21 | Shallow |
Source: MINAGRI and RAB, National Aquaculture Strategy for Rwanda (2023), Table 1.
Besides the lakes, fish are caught in rivers such as the Nyabarongo and the Akagera and in swamps, while more than 15 hydropower and irrigation dams, valley tanks and ponds offer sites for fish farming (MINAGRI, 2023). Three groups stand out: Lake Kivu, the deep rift lake on the western border shared with the DR Congo; the cool, deep volcanic lakes Burera and Ruhondo in the north; and the warm, shallow eastern lakes of Bugesera, Ngoma and the Akagera valley.
| Local or common name | Scientific name | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isambaza (Lake Tanganyika sardine) | Limnothrissa miodon | Lake Kivu | Small silver pelagic fish, usually about 10 cm; introduced from Lake Tanganyika in 1959; feeds on zooplankton |
| Nile tilapia | Oreochromis niloticus | Most lakes, ponds and cages | Native; the main farmed fish in Rwanda |
| Indugu | Haplochromis species | Kivu and other lakes | Small cichlids; Kivu has 15 endemic species |
| African catfish | Clarias gariepinus, C. liocephalus | Swamps, lakes, ponds | Breathes air, so it survives in swamp water low in oxygen; increasingly farmed |
| Lungfish | Protopterus | Swamps and eastern lakes | Also breathes air |
| Barbs and others | Barbus, Labeo, Synodontis | Rivers and lakes | Native species of small value |
| Common carp | Cyprinus carpio | Ponds | Exotic; a farmed alternative to tilapia |
Sources: RAB (2021); REMA (2009); MINAGRI (2023); Wikipedia, "Lake Tanganyika sardine" and "Lake Kivu".
Lake Kivu's fish fauna is poor: 28 described species, four of them introduced. Before 1959 no fish fed on the plankton of its open water, so the sardine filled an empty niche (Wikipedia, "Lake Kivu").
Worked example 1: how dominant is Lake Kivu?
Data (MINAGRI, 2023, Table 1). Rwandan areas of the eight lakes: Kivu 1,330; Burera 55; Ruhondo 26.6; Muhazi 33; Ihema 100; Rweru 47; Mugesera 40; Cyohoha South 19 km².
A rough volume (area × average depth) shows the contrast even more: Kivu against Ihema .
Interpretation. Four-fifths of the main lake surface, and almost all the deep open water, is in Lake Kivu. That is why the pelagic isambaza fishery and most large cage farms are there. The eastern lakes are warm and good breeding grounds for tilapia and catfish, but being shallow they silt up and warm quickly.
Worked example 2: does Rwanda catch enough fish for its people?
Data. Fish production in 2022: 43,560 t (MINAGRI, 2025). Population in 2022: 13,246,394 (NISR, 2023). Estimated consumption: about 7.9 kg of fish per person per year, with about 19,000 t imported (MINAGRI, 2023).
Interpretation. On these estimates Rwanda's own lakes and farms supply well under half of the fish its people eat; the rest is imported, mostly dried small fish and frozen fillets (MINAGRI, 2023). A large, unmet home market is itself a factor favouring fishing and fish farming. (The figures come from different years and sources, so treat the percentage as an estimate.)
| Factor | How it helps | Rwandan evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | ||
| Many water bodies | Fishing grounds in every province | 101 lakes and 860 marshlands (REMA, 2009) |
| A large, deep lake | Open water for pelagic fish and for cages | Kivu: 1,330 km² in Rwanda, average depth 220 m |
| Warm surface water | Fish grow faster | Kivu 23–26 °C; Mugesera about 25 °C |
| Plankton and swamps | Food and breeding grounds | Isambaza feed on zooplankton; tilapia and catfish breed in swampy margins |
| Human | ||
| A large, growing market | Demand exceeds local supply | 13.2 million people (2022); about 19,000 t of fish imported (MINAGRI, 2023) |
| Laws and regulation | Licences, gear rules and closed seasons protect stocks | Law N° 58 of 2008 on aquaculture and fishing; Ministerial Order of 11 December 2020 (RAB) |
| Cooperatives | Pool boats and nets, sell together | COOPILAKE, a union of isambaza fishers in Rubavu (RAB) |
| Cheap local equipment and labour | Wooden canoes, lamps and nets need little capital | Three-canoe isambaza teams on Kivu (RAB) |
| Lakeside towns | Markets, landing sites and roads to inland buyers | Rubavu, Karongi and Rusizi on Lake Kivu |
Limits. Not every lake is favourable. Burera and Ruhondo lie above 1,700 m and their water can fall to 10 °C, which slows the growth of tilapia; the eastern lakes are shallow (2–5 m) and silt up; and with no sea, Rwanda has no marine fishery (MINAGRI, 2023).
Warning
Two common errors. (1) Isambaza are not native to Lake Kivu: they were introduced from Lake Tanganyika in 1959. (2) Lake Kivu is not wholly Rwandan: only about half of it (1,330 of 2,700 km²) is in Rwanda; the rest belongs to the DR Congo, so its fish stocks are shared.
InfoNile: "Rwanda, the 'fish-less' country?" (2021). Filmed with an isambaza cooperative at Rubavu. Listen for the reasons given for low catches despite Rwanda's many lakes, and compare them with the limits in the table above.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Sources: National Aquaculture Strategy for Rwanda, MINAGRI and RAB, 2023 (lake characteristics, dams, consumption, imports, cool temperatures); Annual Report 2024–2025, MINAGRI, 2025 (fish production 2020–2025); How legal fishing gears improved sambaza fishing in Lake Kivu, RAB (species, Ministerial Order of 11 December 2020, COOPILAKE); Enhanced farming practices boost fish production in Rwanda, MINAGRI, 2019 (cage-farm lakes); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report, REMA, 2009 (lake inventory, native and introduced fish); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report 2021, REMA (Law N° 58 of 2008); Fifth Population and Housing Census, Main Indicators Report, NISR, 2023 (population); Lake Tanganyika sardine and Lake Kivu, Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted by Ganzaa.
Figure 1 was drawn by Ganzaa from the national outline and neighbouring countries from geoBoundaries (CC BY 4.0) and Natural Earth (public domain); lakes and rivers © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). The tables and worked examples were written by Ganzaa.
Photo: Amafi, Mbachris, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Video: "Rwanda, The 'Fish-less' Country?", InfoNile, embedded from YouTube. The rest of the lesson and the exercises were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Why are most large cage farms and the isambaza fishery on Lake Kivu rather than Lake Ihema?
