Africa-Press – Tanzania. NILE perch species in Lake Victoria have increased considerably raising new hopes on how sustainable fishery management could contribute immensely to the socio-economic development of the riparian states.
A recent report by the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) revealed that Nile perch in Lake Victoria increased from 417,936 tons during 2015/16 to 553,770 tonnes during 2018.
The increase was equivalent of 132.5 per cent. Lake Victoria is estimated to produce 500,000 tonnes of fish annually, valued at US dollars 600 million. Based on current stock estimates, the Lake has the potential to yield fish valued at over US dollars 800 million annually on a sustainable way.
The East African Community (EAC) has designated the Lake Basin as an economic growth zone with the potential to develop into a major economic region.
The fishery sector is vital in creating employment opportunities, mostly rural-based, thereby helping to reduce rural-urban migration. Fish is also a rich source of animal protein for human consumption and provides raw material (fishmeal) for processing animal feeds. The fish industry contributes to GDP of the riparian states and has continued to be an important source of foreign exchange earnings through fish exports to the regional and international markets.
Besides, the fish industry contributes to the national and local government revenues through the various taxes, levies and license fees. The sector has also contributed directly and indirectly to the improvement of physical infrastructure and social facilities, such as roads, schools and hospitals, particularly in remote fishing communities. Lake Victoria is under threat, and the very people this natural resource is supposed to serve are the ones threatening its existence.
Irresponsible human activities are threatening the world’s second largest fresh water lake. Lake Victoria, measuring 68,800 square kilometers, is the second largest fresh water lake in the world. The lake is shared by Kenya with six per cent, Uganda 43 per cent and Tanzania 51 per cent.
It has up 1,000,000 metric tonnes of fish in the three countries. Pollution hotspots on the lake include Murchison Bay, Kitubulu, Bukoba, Mwanza, Musoma and Kisumu.
The main catch is Nile perch, estimated at 51 per cent and tilapia, estimated at about 24 per cent. The rest is silver fish. Lake Victoria had more than 400 species of fish before the introduction of Nile perch. However, it now has about 200 species.
The smaller species disappeared due to the predatory behavior of the Nile perch.
