Effects of sand mining on the fisheries on two landing sites in Lwera wetland, Lake Victoria

Abstract

Sand mining is the removal of sand from its natural configuration in the earth’s crust. Sand is used for various projects and programs like land reclamation, construction of artificial islands and coastline stabilization, having social and economic benefits to the society, but has had detrimental effects to the environment and the ecosystem. With little research done on the effects of sand mining in Lwera wetland after onset of industrialized sand mining, this research found out that there has been reduced number of spawning grounds for the fishes due to destruction of vegetation in the shallow littoral zones of the lake leading to reduction of landed catches on the landing sites. This mainly affected the amount of Tilapia landed due to its nature of living and spawning in the highly degraded areas. Kamuwunga landing site was affected most by the sand mining activities due to its strategic location to the main transportation routes and vast sand deposits around it both on land and in the lake. Nile tilapia catches greatly declined after the onset of sand mining compared to Nile perch, Catfish and Lungfish.