Effectiveness of closed fishing season in fisheries management: a case of lake kwania

Abstract

Lake Kwania recorded a decline in fish stock and species diversity since the year 2005 (NaFIRRI report, 2006; Ogutu-Ohwayo et al. 2005). Therefore, government of Uganda suspended fishing activities on Lake Kwania in March 2019 over concerns of decline in fish stock and species diversity through closed season (Daily monitor, 2019). Closed fishing season is a capture fisheries management strategy aimed at fish stock recovery because during the closed period, fish undergo reproduction. Therefore, recruitment increase fish stock and species diversity. The study therefore, was conducted to ascertain the species diversity and the catch per unit effort for fish landed at the two landing sites before and after closed season from March 2019 and July 2020. The catch per unit effort was calculated from the total weight of fish caught by the number of gears, (CPUE = weight of fish caught / number of gears used). Different species landed at the two landing sites were identified by using morphological characteristics based on Greenwood (1966). The present results show consistent eight fish species since year 2005 in the catches after closed season. Nile perch, Nile Tilapia and Silver fishes were the most dominant landed species due to high market demand. The quantity of fish landed increased in the post closed season. Likewise, CPUE for different gears increased after closed season. However, the number of fishing gears and fishers significantly decreased by 62% and 89% respectively. Increase in fish quantity landed and the CPUE despite the decrease in gears and fishers highlight the effectiveness of closed season to rejuvenate the stock. Therefore, the study recommends experimental fishing to assess the effectiveness of closed season on species diversity.