Kinshasa (AFP) – The mighty Congo River feeds millions of people along its course through the vast Democratic Republic of Congo but fishermen near the capital now find more plastic than fish in their nets.
Issued on: 20/05/2026 - 07:42
3 min Reading time
Some have even ditched fishing altogether because it is more profitable to sell the plastic waste they trawl out of the river, the world's second-most powerful watercourse after the Amazon.According to government figures, around 60,000 tonnes of fish are taken annually from the Congo, which flows for more than 4,300 kilometres (2,700 miles) east to west through the huge central African country. But in recent years, fishermen on the outskirts of Kinshasa have noticed their catches dwindling. "A few years ago, I used to catch big fish like captains and catfish but because of the pollution, they've moved further out to sea," fisherman Gilby Mwana-Fioti told AFP. Since dawn, he and around 20 colleagues have paddled along the riverbanks in their weathered wooden canoes. The catch is meagre -- small fish, lots of plastic bottles and too many used nappies. "We'll end up disappearing," said Willy Ngepa, who has been a fisherman for more than 40 years in the DRC, one of the poorest countries in the world.- Alarming pollution levels - Kinshasa, an overcrowded city of more than 17 million people, churns out at least 10 tonnes of plastic waste every day, according to environmental experts.
