Fish Abundance and Socio-Economic Aspects of Lake Jipe Fisheries, Kenya/Tanzania Border
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2004-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Lake Jipe is a lake that is shared by two countries, Kenya and Tanzania, and is one of the
water bodies where both human and natural activities have had great impacts both on the fish
and fisheries. This study was aimed at identifying all the fish species found in the lake,
detelmining the relative abundance of each of the species at selected sites and to assess the
socio-economic aspects of fisheries in the lake. Fish sampling was done using gill nets of
size 20 - 60 mm and fish identified to give a species inventory of the lake. Relative
abundance was estimated using Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE). A questionnaire was used to
gather information on the socio-economic aspects. Nine species were identified from the
lake. Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) showed that the introduced Oreochromis esclilelltlls was
the most abundant in both seasons and also in all the sites, both in numbers and weights.
Analysis of Yariance (ANOY A) indicated a significant difference in weight of specimens
between the two seasons. The length-weight relationship for Bm·bus. Paludinosus, 0.
esclIlentlts and O. jipe, which were the most common species in the lake, were found to be
cnrvilinear. The mean seasonal Fulton condition factor was 2.0, 2.1, 1.3 and 0.9 for 0. jipe,
0. esculelltlls, B. paludilloSIlS and R. tangensis, respectively. There were no significant
differences in the water parameters between the sampling sites, but there were significant
differences for BOD, electrical conductivity and temperature between seasons. Gill nets
were the most commonly used fishing gear by the local fishermen and a mesh size of 30mm
was most pre felTed. Fish caught by the fishermen were both for commercial and subsistence
purposes. Fish preservation methods included smoking and sun drying. This study realized
that the challenges facing Lake Jipe are a complex mixture of socio-economic and ecological
factors some of which include increased siltation, decreasing water quality and quantity,
shrinking fishery, advancing water plants, agricultural expansion and expanding itTigation.
KEYWORDS: Lake Jipe fisheries, Relative abundance, Socio-economic aspects,
Kenya/Tanzania border
Description
Keywords
Lake Jipe fisheries, Relative abundance, Socio-economic aspects, Kenya/Tanzania border