France, Sept. 13 -- Fishing income has fallen to barely $20 a week for some of the families who depend on the river, while one veteran fisher told RFI he can earn about $80 a week collecting plastic and selling it to recycling companies.

More than 60,000 tonnes of fish are caught each year in the Congo River, while millions of people depend on its waters for their livelihoods. Research suggests overfishing is a major factor behind declining catches in parts of the river.

A 2023 study of small-scale fisheries in the Congo Basin found steep declines in the fisheries examined over the previous half-century.

In one example, catches using a large-mesh gillnet fell by 84 percent between 1980 and 2019. Across the fisheries studied, 11 of the ...