The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa
 

Abstract of Publication

Jackson, P.B.N. 1971. The African Great Lakes fisheries: Past, present and future. African Journal of Tropical Hydrobiology and Fisheries 1 (1): 35-49.  

Earliest African fisheries were by waterside peoples using locally fabricated materials. Seine nets of woven twine, of Arabian origin, were later introduced. Gill-nets were introduced in 1905 and remain the most widely used gear. Tilapia species, all inhabiting inshore waters, remain the most important fish caught, but catches generally continue to decline. Further basic studies on Tilapia are necessary to improve management. Large boats with power-operated gear are an important recent innovation which may supplant canoes and gill-nets as producers of the main catch in large lakes, but for success require careful economic planning due to the high initial cost of vessels and essential shore installations. There are numerous management problems e.g. Labeo being heavily fished on spawning migrations, the capture of juvenile Bagrus while fishing for Haplochromis, or of Lates while fishing for clupeoids. Lates niloticus introduced to Lake Victoria have not succeeded so quickly as in Lake Kyoga, due probably to the young competing for food with Haplochromis species. The newcomer Alestes lateralis has supplanted A. imberi in Lake Kariba, through having a more extended spawning season.
 

 

 

 

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