In support of USAID South Sudan’s programmatic objectives to explore an expansion of the USAID-funded South Sudan Transition and Conflict Mitigation (SSTCM) program’s Youth Fisheries Project of 2011-2012, an ecological and environmental assessment was conducted. The study not only focuses on the aforementioned project itself but also on the wider environment of the Sobat River and associated bodies of water. Two visits were made to the area, one during the late dry season in March-April 2013 and the second at the start of the (late) rains in June 2013. This temporal spacing of visits enabled a better picture to be established of the overall situation, than had only one visit been made.

Fisheries are an integral part of the Nuer livelihoods systems. In recent decades, the role of fish in people’s livelihoods has undergone very significant changes due to a progressive and almost total adoption of modern fishing gears. During the civil war this was mostly due to material inputs on a large scale from external agencies. More recently, since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, markets have become more accessible, bringing fishing gear in and allowing fresh and preserved fish to be traded. The result is that there is now a section of the Nuer community who are wholly dedicated to fishing for a living.

The physical, temporal, spatial and biological characteristics of the Sobat fishery are explained in detail in this report. A creel survey was undertaken as part of the assessment. This enabled preliminary length-frequency analysis and a basic figure for Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) to be determined.

The fishing gear inputs as part of the SSTCM Youth Fisheries Project are scientifically analysed and results presented and discussed in the context of the entire Sobat system. Further studies to gather data over a five- year period is recommended in order to determine the Maximum Sustainability Yield and the ecological impact of the SSTCM Youth Fisheries Project.

Recommendations are made both in the area of fisheries and non-fisheries programming, particularly from a strong conservation perspective, rather than just from an economic development perspective.