Thirty years on: the development of the Nile perch fishery in Lake Victoria

Reynolds, J. Eric; Greboval, D.; Mannini, Piero

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-0563-7_10

Cited by 33 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Catches increased dramatically from 1980 onwards to reach about 500,000 t by 1989 with Nile perch making up 70% of the total (REYNOLDS et al, 1995). By 2007 the total catch had risen to around 1,000,000 t with the Nile perch catch being around 240,000 t (25% of the total) with Rastrineobola, Oreochromis and haplochromines making up the balance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Environment of Lake Victoria (East Africa): Current Status and Historical Changes

Sitoki

Gichuki

Ezekiel

et al. 2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

129

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Beginning in the mid-1980s Lake Victoria experienced severe eutrophication and it was suggested that deteriorating water quality might lead to a collapse of its fisheries. A series of lake-wide surveys carried out 1999-2001 and 2005-2009 revealed that the temperature of the lake had risen by > 1 °C since 1927, with more rapid warming of the deeper waters reducing the thermal gradient in the water column and thus weakening stratification and the extent and severity of deoxygenation. The chlorophyll a concentrations in open water decreased since the 1980s, while Secchi disc visibility increased, indicating a reduced severity of algal blooms. Chlorophyll a was higher and Secchi disc visibility lower in inshore waters but there has been no deterioration in these areas since the 1980s. The conductivity remained unchanged, although it was about 50% greater in the semi-enclosed Nyanza Gulf than in the open lake. The water quality of the lake has therefore improved considerably despite the fact than concentrations of plant nutrients have not decreased and the reasons why this may be the case are discussed. IntroductionLake Victoria is the world's second largest freshwater lake (area = 68,800 km 2 , mean depth = 35 m) and it supports one of the world's largest inland fisheries, yielding almost one million tons per annum (LVFO, 2009a). It has attracted much interest in recent years because of the extraordinary ecological changes that occurred in it over the last three decades, comparable in their magnitude to those in newly created man-made lakes. These changes were triggered in the mid-1980s by an introduced predatory fish, the Nile perch Lates niloticus (L.), and its subsequent destruction of the endemic haplochromine cichlids. These fishes, which formed a species flock with some 500 described forms (WITTE et al., 2007), accounted for over 80% of the fish biomass in the lake (KUDHONGANIA and CORDONE, 1974) but they were small fish thought to be of little commercial value. Nile perch were therefore introduced with the specific intention of converting haplochromines into a more * Corresponding author 210 L. SITOKI et al.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Environment of Lake Victoria (East Africa): Current Status and Historical Changes

Sitoki

Gichuki

Ezekiel

et al. 2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

129

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“…There can be little doubt that these introductions saved the fishery from collapse (Reynolds et al, 1995): ''On the face of it. .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Nile perch and the hungry of Lake Victoria: Gender, status and food in an East African fishery

Geheb¹,

Kalloch²,

et al. 2008

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“…Employment on the whole lake, including ancillary activities, rose from 158,000 people before the Nile perch to a level of 422,000 people by 1992, the peak of the Nile perch fishery. Earnings per fisher increased by $473.00 per year adjusted for inflation, a significant sum in Tanzania (Reynolds et al 1992). Fishers sent more of their catch to central markets, particularly the central market at Mwanza, which handles 90% of the legal trade to distant markets (Maembe 1990).…”

Section: A Critical Approach To Human Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sun dried dagaa has also undergone a recent explosion in exports to neighboring countries (Reynolds et al 1992). …”

Section: A Critical Approach To Human Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An industrial processing and export industry grew up in Kenya and Uganda during the 1980s and in Tanzania in the early 1990s (Reynolds et al 1992).The fish are exported as frozen fillets from processing plants on the lake shore. The export industry has driven up the price of Nile perch and led to an increase in capital investments in fish harvesting equipment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing Economic Problems for Women in the Nile Perch Fishing Communities on Lake Victoria

Medard¹,

Wilson

1996

Anthropologica

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Thirty years on: the development of the Nile perch fishery in Lake Victoria

Cited by 33 publications

References 12 publications

The Environment of Lake Victoria (East Africa): Current Status and Historical Changes

The Environment of Lake Victoria (East Africa): Current Status and Historical Changes

Nile perch and the hungry of Lake Victoria: Gender, status and food in an East African fishery

Changing Economic Problems for Women in the Nile Perch Fishing Communities on Lake Victoria

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