An overview of the current status of Lake Victoria fishery: Opportunities, challenges and management strategies

Abstract

Lake Victoria is African's most important source of inland fishery production, exhibiting an annual catch of ≈500 000 mt. The lake moderates local climate, serves as a means of transport, and a source of human food and raw material for the fishmeal industry. The introduction of Nile perch transformed the fisheries from a locally based artisanal fishery to a national and international capital investment industry. The fisheries produce an annual income of $US 600 million, providing employment opportunities for over 3 million people. Although the benefits of transforming the fishery of Lake Victoria appear to be quite remarkable, the negative impacts of this development are even more dramatic.Several challenges face the lake fishery, including environmental degradation, the introduction of exotic species, overfishing, and a fish export ban. Nutrients inputs into the lake have resulted in eutrophication and increased algal blooms. Deteriorated water quality and increased anoxia have caused the displacement and decline of some fish species. Exotic tilapiines have hybridized, displacing the indigenous fish species. Nile perch predation has caused the disappearance of once abundant native fish species. The once complex food web is now dominated by Nile perch. Unhygienic fishing methods have led to several fish export bans, while water hyacinth invasion in the lake has affected water quality, fishing and transportation possibilities. The current top-down management and use of different regulations by the riparian states have been a major drawback to sustainable management of the lake. There is a need for a paradigm shift, in which the lake is considered to be one ecosystem and relevant stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process.

A Bottom-Up Understanding of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing in Lake Victoria

“…Our findings also show that, despite relatively high conservation understanding among fishers, the persistent use of destructive fishing gear [23,24] clearly implies that having a better conservation knowledge does not automatically translate into subsequent rule compliance. This finding corroborates [19] who found a low inclination of resource users towards conservation measures despite having high conservation awareness.…”

“…However, with the persistence of the IUU fishing, it is plausible to posit that the crux of the problem lies in the unexplored (and unresolved) differences in the images of various fisheries stakeholders on the causes of the IUU fishing and the possible actions taken to address it. For example, the belief among managers, governments, and development agencies that the key to tackling IUU fishing is to induce strict restrictions on fishing gears and methods [23,24] may not be shared by fishers and other resource users. In such instances, governance initiatives overlooking this disparity may face on-the-ground resistance, rendering the system less governable.…”

“…Specifically, we ask what these stakeholders think about the impact or severity that various fishing activities have on fisheries resources and the lake ecosystem. The study was conducted on a small island on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria, where, similar to the rest of the Lake, IUU fishing is known to exist [23,24]. This paper commences by describing global difficulties in tackling IUU fishing and discussing how, according to the interactive governance theory, IUU fishing is considered a governance problem and not merely a technical one.…”

Genetic variation and demographic history of the Haplochromis laparogramma group of Lake Victoria—An analysis based on SINEs and mitochondrial DNA

“…(Y.) pyrrhocephalus experienced a dramatic near-extinction event 20 YBP (Witte et al, , 2000(Witte et al, , 2007a probably caused by predation from Nile perch (Goudswaard et al, 2006;Njiru et al, 2008;Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1999;Witte et al, 1992Witte et al, , 1997. These events likely influenced the population structure and population size of the haplochromine cichlid species.…”

“…Phenotypic identification of each species investigated in this study is given in the Materials and methods. The haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria have experienced unique demographic events, such as late Pleistocene desiccation of the lake (Johnson et al, 1996(Johnson et al, , 2000Stager and Johnson, 2008;Sturmbauer et al, 2001), more recent fluctuations in water level and temperature (Awange et al, 2008;Kiwango, 2007;Verschuren, 2004), eutrophication of lake (Hecky, 1993;Hecky et al, 1994;Mugidde, 1993;Seehausen et al, 1997;Verschuren et al, 2002), and predation by Nile perch (Goudswaard et al, 2006;Njiru et al, 2008;Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1999;Witte et al, 1992Witte et al, , 1997. In particular, H.…”