Fish composition of Jebba Lake, Nigeria

Abstract

During the study period, from April 2008 to March 2009, 51 species of fish were recorded belonging to 12 families in Jebba Lake. The commercially important fishes were grouped according to their economic importance into five categories namely, Catfish (Clarias spp., Bagrus bayad, Heterobranchus spp., and Chrysichthys spp.), Tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus and Tilapia zilli), Nile perch (Lates niloticus), Freshwater sardines (Clupeids spp.) and others (Alestes spp., Citharinus citharus and Synodontis spp.). Three zones were classified according to their biological and limnological characteristics. Stratum I (upstream zone) exhibits riverine conditions with rapid water currents, and contributed 35.1% of the total catch. Stratum II (midstream zone) represents low water currents and contributed 12.5% of the total fish catch. Stratum III (reservoir zone), which exhibits lentic habitat and contributed 52.4% of the total fish catch, due to ecological changes in the aquatic environment that provided abundant natural fish food supply. Traditional fishing gears such as cast net, gill net, drift net, longline and fish trap were used by fishermen. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) per landing site, ranged between 1.05 to 6.22 kg/boat with highest in June at Rimaye landing site while lowest in February was at Faku landing site. The average annual fish landings per fisherman ranged from 62.71 to 129.68 kg/fisherman/yr.