Research Article Open Access

Fishing Trends in a Freshwater Rift Valley Lake: Towards Sustainable Management of Lake Naivasha Fishery

Abstract

The study assessed fishing trends and determined their implications to the management of Lake Naivasha. Data on fish catches and fishing effort from1999 to 2017 were obtained from daily records compiled at the four landing beaches. A catch assessment survey (CAS) of the fishery was conducted at the beaches in 2018. Results indicated that Lake Naivasha fishery is male youth dominated with the males owning 71% of the boats. And that an average of 33±1.6 boats was found to be actively fishing per day. Averages of 2.94 tons of fish were landed daily in all the beaches while Karagita beach recorded the highest Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) at 35.8. Oreochromis niloticus accounted for approximately 69% of the total daily catches. The increase in catch can be attributed to increased fishing effort. The previous set management guidelines should therefore be implemented and enforced.

Edna Waithaka, Priscilla Boera, George Morara, Alice Mutie, James Last A. Keyombe and Chrispine Nyamweya

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