Consequences of colonial introductions of non-native fish (and fantasies of settler leisure) in Argentina and German Namibia
(Originally posted elsewhere on 6 December 2019.)
Excerpt 1:
Fish are known generically as “Challwa” in the Mapudungun language [in rural Indigenous Mapuche communities east of the Andean crest in Neuquen province, Patagonia, Argentina ...]. This name in the native language constitutes an onomatopoeic word (an onomatopoeic name) alluding to the sound produced by fish in the water as they move or swim [...]. In our work a total of five fish species were recognized by the people, of which two were native species, perca criolla (Percichthys trucha) and pejerrey patagónico (Odontesthes hatcheri), and three were exotic [having been introduced by European colonists in the early 20th century], rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). [...] This is reflected in the tales of the inhabitants, for example, with respect to their knowledge of trout (rainbow and brook) and their perception of them as species that invade and kill other fish present in the aquatic environments. These species which are strongly associated with the presence of the “white man” are given the pejorative name in Mapudungun of “cosa de winka” (“white man stuff”) […]. One informant from the Puel community told us “my grandmother used to tell us….suddenly these big fish appeared, big heads in the river … my grandfather would say, the white men have been close by…”
Text above by: Juana Aigo and Ana Ladio. “Traditional Mapuche ecological knowledge in Patagonia, Argentina: fishes and other living beings inhabiting continental waters, as a reflection of processes of change.” (2016).
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Excerpt 2:
The transaction took place on 11 March 1909. That day, the Kassler Fishing Club handed a German colonial official only identified as Dr. v. E. (probably Dr. Max von Eschtruth) an ominous package. […] [H]e was about to return to Southwest Africa, a German colony originally founded in 1884. In Antwerp, Belgium, he received an unusual delivery: thousands of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) eggs. The precious cargo had come from a well-known fish-breeding institution in Saxony, central Germany, and given its destination more than 6,000 nautical miles (ca. 11,100 kilometers) away, had been carefully packed in ice and covered with cloth. Once aboard, it was stored so as to avoid it being exposed to temperatures above 10°C. It was a long journey, three weeks at sea [...] and finally to Swakopmund. [...] After three days by train it arrived in Grootfontein, in central Namibia. According to the Windhuker Nachrichten newspaper, only around two hundred eggs had not survived the long journey. […] Part of broader efforts to settle German Southwest Africa, the introduction of fish farming had begun prior to this episode [...]. A variety of experts [...] had long planned wells and dams in light of their desires to turn the arid landscapes of Southwest Africa into self-sustaining [European-style] agricultural settler environments. Countless expeditions had explored and surveyed [...], or had visited neighboring South Africa to learn from the British. [...]
In 1904, one observer highlighted two main challenges: “For the breeding of trout and carp, […] the establishment of better water conditions has to be completed first. Plus, it would not be easy to transport stock and seed fish” to German Southwest Africa [...]. Colonialists felt they could confront both issues with an increasing investment in and the construction of colonial infrastructures. In 1903, the completed Mole harbor in Swakopmund allowed settlers to disembark much more easily. Newcomers could also travel by train inland - a much simpler journey compared to relying on oxen wagons. Additionally, the colonial administration offered numerous incentives to settlers, including loans. Soon new arrivals began pouring into the colony, especially after the German defeat of the Herero and Nama people in what has been [...] called “[one of] the first genocide[s] of the twentieth century.”
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Early efforts to introduce German fish took shape within these contexts. In fact, in September 1904, the district commander of Windhoek, Max von Eschstruth, tried to introduce carp into an artificial pond. He intended for the pond to become part of an agricultural experiment station, which was established in Neudamm five years later and for which he had planned to acquire carp and tench from the consulate in Cape Town. There, and elsewhere in their colonial empire, British efforts had been much more advanced and successful [...]. However, Eschstruth was only able to get his hands on 50 carp from an institution in Jonkershoek [...]. That cargo was then transported by ship to Swakopmund, later by train to Windhoek - and for the last 35 kilometers a Herero worker had to carry it. [...] [There were] additional attempts in 1911 [to naturalize trout]. That time “roughly 1,000 eggs were still alive” at arrival in Grootfontein [...]. Yet once again the water temperature reached more than 20°C that afternoon - which killed the trout. Utopian expectations did not match realities on the ground. Over time, German colonial fantasies tied to the introduction of trout began to fade. In 1911, newspapers like the Südwestbote had still been defiant; three years later, the Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon painted a different picture: “Within German colonies the artificial breeding of Cypriniformes is probably not possible at all” (636). And although references jealously pointed to British successes nearby (649), the publication concluded that the breeding of Salmonidae would only be promising in more mountainous areas.
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Text above by: Martin Kalb, “Naturalizing Trout? Fish Farming in German Southwest Africa”. Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (Autumn 2017), no. 33. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. doi.org/10.5282/rcc/8158. [Emphasis mine.]
