Fish Diversity, Abundance, Socioeconomic Importance and the Status of the Fisheries of Lake Hayq, South Wollo, Ethiopia
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Date
2016-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was conducted on one of the northern high land fresh water lake; i.e., Lake Hayq, and its surrounding fishing community. The current fish diversity in Lake Hayq comprises of 4 species namely, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Catfish (Clarias gariepinus), Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Garra (Garra dembecha). However; Garra sp. has no economical value in the research area and hence it is not targeted & presented by fishermen. The fish species that is more abundant in the lake as a whole, around the lake shore and during dry (Begga) season is Nile tilapia, followed by common carp. Whereas, catfish is more abundant in the rainy season (Kiremt) in Lake Hayq. The species of tilapia and catfish are currently being depleted and not adequately captured. Instead, it is been identified that Carp (C, carpio), which has been introduced in to the lake in the recent years, reproduce very well and become dominated the lake. Sustainable fish resource in the lake provides animal protein and means of livelihood to surrounding community. However, it is found that the fish resource in the lake is facing biological and economical challenges. The current socio-economic importance of fish resources in the lake are stressed by demographic and economical pressures. Majority of the fishermen who were engaged in this fishing activities are young ranging from 21 to 30 years old. Individual fishermen daily fish catch exceed 100-200 immature tilapia per individual. Which estimated around 3513.6 quintal in a year. This indicated that in the current situation large number of tilapia (mostly preferred by surrounding community) harvested from Lake Hayq when we compared from past trends, but, low in quality (tilapia sp. become stunted). Due to this reason, individual fishermen monthly income did not exceed 1000 Et. Birr. Majority of them have no other income source for their livelihood and they are totally dependent on the lake’s resources. Members of Logo Hayq-Ardibo fishermen association, on the other hand, found relatively in a better position as a result of their catching effort from Lake Ardibo in addition to Lake Hayq. The problem is aggravated due to little employment diversification opportunity and lack of government support or poor accountability. The major anthropogenic activities that aggravate fish resource destruction are overfishing practices of individual fishermen using non recommended gillnet with mesh size less than 8 cm and continuous fishing even during reproductive seasons of some fishes (eg. Nile tilapia). Moreover, environmental pollution, destruction of fish reproductive sites & water level reduction, further degraded the habitats of the fishes. Generally the absence of effective lake management system accelerated the decline of the fish resources in Lake Hayq. To overcome these adverse impacts on the fish resource, there should be continuous professional follow up, diversification of employment for youth, organization of individual fishers into fishermen association. Moreover, introduction of other systems of producing tilapia species (like aquaculture) to restock the lake is recommended. Furthermore, there is a need for further study about the cause of stunting tilapia in this lake during recent years.
Key words/phrases: Lake Hayq, diversity, abundance, socio-economic importance, lake management.
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Keywords
Lake Hayq, Diversity, Abundance, Socio-Economic Importance, Lake Management