Evaluation of levels of use of legal fishing gears on selected landing sites on lake Victoria, Uganda

Abstract

Nile Perch fishing in Lake Victoria is done using gillnets and hooks on long lines as the main fishing gears. These gears have been deployed in the lake indiscriminately to the extent that in early 2000s the species showed signs of over-fishing. The resource management authorities addressed this situation by introducing a slot size of 50–85 cm total length (TL) to protect immature fish, and large adults to replenish the stocks while at the same time harvesting mature individuals. In the year 2005 July and December 2008, catch Assessment Surveys, were conducted by the partner states to generate data for setting policies, development planning, and management intervention. Studies showed that Nile Perch caught in the minimum legal 5” gillnets were immature by more than 80%. In contrast Nile Perch of ≥85 cm total length, targeted by long-lines, were seldom encountered to validate the upper limit of the slot size. This led to introduction of a lower legal limit of 7” for gillnets.