Dietary analysis of juvenile Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) OF Lake Nabugabo

Abstract

The Nile perch fishery is the leading fish export earner to Uganda making the species the most valuable in the country thereby leading to increased fishing pressure on the fishery. The introduction of Nile perch into the Lake Victoria Basin resulted into disappearance of a number of native species. The diet of Nile perch has been noted to change depending on prey availability in its ecosystem. The dynamics of the predator-prey biomass of Lake Nabugabo are not yet clearly understood. This study therefore was aimed at investigating the diet on juvenile Nile perch of Lake Nabugabo for three consecutive years (2020, 2021 and 2022) and its effect on the condition factor of the species. The results of this study revealed that haplochromines were the most preferred prey items by the juvenile Nile perch for the three years and the condition factor of the Nile perch was noted to increase over the three years. The dominance of haplochromines in the Nile perch diet is attributed to the resurgence of haplochromines in the ecosystem due to overexploitation of the fishery. The improving condition factor of Nile perch is attributed to the dominance of haplochromines in its diet over the period of three years.