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Fishing

Lake Malawi has for millennia provided a major food source to the residents of its shores since its waters are rich in fish. Among the most popular are the four species of chambo, consisting of any one of four species in the subgenus Nyasalapia (Oreochromis karongae, O. lidole, O. saka and O. squamipinnis), as well as the closely related O. shiranus. Other species that support important fisheries include the Lake Malawi sardine (Engraulicypris sardella) and the large kampango catfish (Bagrus meridionalis). Most fishing provides food for the increasing human population near the lake, but some are exported from Malawi. The wild population of fish is increasingly threatened by overfishing and water pollution. A drop in the lake's water level represents another threat, and is believed to be driven by water extraction by the increasing human population, climate change and deforestation. The chambo and kampango have been particularly overfished (the kampango declined by about 90% from 2006 to 2016, O. karongae and O. squamipinnis by about 94%, and O. lidole might already be extinct) and they are now seriously threatened. The IUCN recognises 117 species of Malawi cichlids as threatened; some of these have tiny ranges and may be restricted to rocky coastlines only a few hundred metres long.

1. Diplotaxodon, one of the very few cichlid genera that occurs offshore in relatively deep water. 2. Nimbochromis livingstonii is a piscivorous hap that is famous for playing dead to lure prey close. 3. As typical of utaka, Copadichromis azureus has bright blue males (shown) and duller females that are silvery with dark spots. 4. Aulonocara stuartgranti is part of a group of relatively peaceful species popularly known as peacock cichlids. 5. Fossorochromis rostratus is an "aberrant" hap that often sifts mouthfuls of sand to extract small food organisms. 6. Like many mbuna, Pseudotropheus saulosi is a small cichlid where both male (blue and black) and female (yellow) are colorful.