The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is in the process of establishing a freshwater community-based conservation programme in the upper Okavango Basin. The Okavango Basin was selected because of its importance to global biodiversity, its relatively undeveloped character, its importance in sustaining local livelihoods and food security and the ecosystem services that it delivers. AES was awarded the contract to undertake a baseline survey along the Cuito and Cubango rivers in Angola. The survey included both Fisheries Independent Surveys (FIS) and the initial setup of an ongoing Fisheries Dependent Survey (FDS), Catch Assessment Survey (CAS).

The FIS program was designed to ensure the data collected is comparable with the long-term data collected by the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (NMFMR) along the Kavango River in Namibia. This will allow a greater understanding of the Okavango River fishery from its headwaters into the middle and lower reaches. FIS was undertaken at 2 newly established monitoring stations on the Cuito River, and 3 stations on the Cubango River in Angolan waters during the highwater period in April 2022. Standardised and repeatable methods were used for all FIS. 

The FDS programme involved designing a purpose-built tablet based electronic CAS (eCAS). The eCAS was designed taking location specific fisheries information into account and allows for data to be collected while offline (due to remote locations) with data being sent to a cloud server when network connections allow. The eCAS was designed in English and translated into Portuguese, and following community engagement also a local dialect, Rukwangali. Members of the Fishing cooperatives in each of the 5 monitoring stations were trained in CAS methods and how to use the eCAS. The programme is being implemented on an ongoing basis with data collected at each monitoring station on a monthly basis. Data is housed in a custom built database which allows analysis and interpretation of key fisheries indicators.