| dc.description.abstract | Climate variability in terms of changes in precipitation and temperature has significant implications on fish production and alters water levels in aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the effect of climate variability on fisheries and water levels is crucial because it provides insights for policy makers, resource managers, and stakeholders involved in the sustainable management of these resources, offering a foundation for informed decision-making in the face of climate variability. In Uganda, Lake Kyoga has experienced variations in water levels and fish production, although the effect of climate variability on Lake Kyoga has hardly been studied. This study therefore conducted at Lwampanga fish landing site in Lake Kyoga basin, employed the use of CRU rainfall and temperature data, and satellite altimetry products from Jason 2, 3 and Sentinel 6A to give a 15-year understanding of how climate variability affects water levels of Lake Kyoga at annual and seasonal time scales from 2008 to 2022. The study also examined the effect of water level variations and climate variables on fish production at an annual time scale from 2009 to 2022 using fish production data from Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda. The study results indicate that all seasonal and annual rainfall and mean temperature trends were not statistically significant, but annual fish production and water levels were statistically significant with p-values of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively. The correlation coefficients between climate trends and water levels were 0.349 and -0.176 for annual rainfall and annual mean temperature, respectively. The effect of water level variation and rainfall on fish production were tested using linear regression and the results were not statistically significant with p-values of 0.071 and 0.073, respectively. However, the effect of annual mean temperature on fish production was statistically significant with p-value of 0.014, where temperature explained 40.75% of the changes in production. This study therefore recommends that more research needs to be done on other anthropogenic or natural factors that affect water levels and fish production in the area, such as evaporation rates, human activities and water quality. There is also a need to incorporate climate variability and lake water levels in the assessment of fish production in order to manage the impacts of climate variability on fisheries and fisherfolks’ livelihoods. | en_US |
