A recent expert review of the ecological risks of net pen aquaculture in the North American Great Lakes made a number of recommendations for Best Management Practices (BMPs) that should be applied to establishment of net pen farms. Based on that_study, researchers identified nine generic BMPs that could be applied to all Global Great Lakes.

Earth system models are the only scientific tools yet developed that are capable of integrating the multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes that determine past, present and future climate. Researchers here use the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to generate depictions of environmental futures under climate change specifically to serve stakeholder needs for each of the major Great Lake watersheds.

This paper highlights lessons from a study that was conducted along Lake Malawi from January to March 2014. The study aimed at building climate change resilience in the Malawi's fisheries sector. Collection of data was guided by the framework called Climate change impact pathways to fisheries and aquaculture systems . Several lessons on vulnerabilities, impacts, responses and measures were drawn from the study.

Lake Chilwa Basin in Southern Malawi has experienced environmental degradation, climate variability and change that have manifested negative impacts on people's livelihoods, food security and health, particularly among the most vulnerable groups such as women and children. However, what has not been established has been the linkages of climate variability and change, and population dynamics particularly migration and public and reproductive health.

African Great Lakes (AGLs) contribute 2.7 million tonnes (~25%) to global inland fisheries production (11.9 mt) annually. This is composed of large species (> 20 cm total length, TL) and small pelagic species (< 20 cm, TL). At the turn of the 20th century, fisheries of the AGLs were dominated by large species (tilapine cichlids, Lates spp, cat fishes, Mormyrids, etc.) and management concentrated on these species.

Over 800 million people are malnourished and the global population is growing, and at the current trend 9 out of 10 children living in poverty in 2030 will be from Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Zero hunger and the SDG Life below water'promote the conservation and sustainable use of aquatic resources for sustainable development.

Lake Malawi in the Africa Great Lakes region is one of the deepest lakes in the world. The total number of fish species in Lake Malawi is estimated at approximately 15% of the global total of freshwater species and approximately 4% of the world's fishes. Particularly noteworthy are the high diversity of haplochromine cichlids. It is listed as a world heritage site due to its outstanding universal values. Lake Malawi is about 586 km long and 16-80 km wide covering 20% of Malawi's earth surface.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014) predicts by the end of this century ~1 4 degrees_C warming and an uncertain trend in future rainfall in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, perhaps 10% lower than present in the Malawi/Nyassa basin and 10% higher in the lake basins to the north. Radar altimetry records of lake level trends available since 1992 display decadal scale variability of 1-2 m, with an overall trend in the last decade towards lower levels in Lakes Malawi/Nyassa and Rukwa, and higher levels in the lakes to the north of Rukwa.

In the face of stagnating wild fisheries in Lake Victoria and a rapidly growing human population, aquaculture may improve food and livelihood security in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Very recently, cages for farming the introduced Nile tilapia have been popping up on the lake at a rapid rate. While cage culture could provide food and income, there are many pressing questions: What will be the physical impact of cages on the lake's limnology? Will there be adverse effects for wild populations?