Department of Soil Science and Irrigation Management

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Browsing Department of Soil Science and Irrigation Management by Subject "Bait fisheries"

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    The effect of Nile perch bait fishery on the reproductive and biometric parameters of Mormyrus Kannume along the upper Victoria Nile
    (Kyambogo University(Unpublished work), 2025-09) Mbaho, Eunith
    The increased exploitation of Mormyrus Kannume using illegal fishing gear, used as bait to capture Nile perch, poses a threat to its population and could ultimately lead to its extinction. Monitoring of fish reproductive metrics is crucial for assessing population health, informing sustainable management practices, and ensuring the ecological balance of aquatic ecosystems. This study was carried out to; identify the socio-economic factors promoting the use of M. Kannume as a bait in the Nile perch fishery, determine its size at sexual maturity (L50) and sex ratios, and examine its biometric parameters (body length and body weight relationship) along the Upper Victoria Nile. The study was both qualitative and descriptive, where questionnaires were administered to respondents in person along selected landing sites on the Upper Victoria Nile and Lake Victoria. The sex ratio was calculated after identifying the sex of each sample following dissection. The L50 was determined by the maturity logistic ogive curve. The Total Length and body weight were measured using a measuring board and a calibrated weighing scale respectively. The results generated showed that the key socio-economic factors that influence the use of this bait were fishing experience, bait cost, selling price of Nile perch, bait type, and size of the bait. The chi-square test on sex ratio (females: males) showed no significant deviations from the normal indicating a healthy population structure. Size at sexual maturity L50, for males and females was 23 cm and 21 cm respectively indicating that the fish are maturing at a small length probably due to increased fishing pressure. The TL of the fish caught ranged from 10.5 cm to 67.5 cm (mean of 17.62 ± 0.11 cm), and the body weight ranged from 10.84 g to 2548.8 g (mean of 57.54 ± 2.52 g). The b value (LWR exponent) was 2.9 (Male) and 2.8 (female) indicating a negative allometric growth, implying that the fish are in a healthy condition but slightly underweight probably due to stress from fishing pressure. These results demonstrate that M. Kannume is facing reduced size at sexual maturity, and slight decline in the relationship between body length and body weight. These changes are probably due to fishing pressure and use of inappropriate fishing gear which may catch fish before they reach maturity. Captive breeding of M. Kannume is recommended to ease pressure on wild populations and ensure sustainable bait supply. Therefore, this study has highlighted the socio-economic driving factors in the use of M. Kannume as bait. Understanding M. Kannume’s biological data is important in the development of management strategies to address the already caused effects and preserve M. Kannume from extinction in the long run.