Uganda: Fish Species Declining, Says Watchdog

Jonna Kamanyi, a principal research officer, noted that there are only 53 fish species in lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Albert. He attributed the decline to indiscriminate fishing.

Dr. Will Kaberuka, from the research institute, pointed out that some species that were common in the 1950s and 1960s have reduced.

"Traditionally, commercial catches in the 1950s and early 1960s desired food fish such as ngege and ningu, which were all endemic to Lake Victoria, but due to over fishing even other native tilapia and other large species began to decline, which led to the introduction of the Nile Perch."

David Kabasa, a lecturer in the faculty of Veterinary at Medicine at Makerere University, affirms that the rich aquatic resources may be short lived due to the indiscriminate fishing by the impoverished fishermen.

Source: AllAfrica.com