Abstract:

The inshore fishery of Lake Victoria has symptoms of severe overfishing. Curvilinear multipl~ regrcssion analysis wa, used to examine the large variation in fishing elfort, 'car composition, and CGtches around the lake and ,ug~estlishingrractices that would give highest yields. The overfishing problem i, due to the kind of gear in usc and not to excessive fishing pcr se. Heavy fishing is oftcn aS$ociated with the use of sma\[lnesh gill nets and seines to catch small tish such as Haplochromis, a practice that does not seem to justify the damage uont: to catches of the larger species by the same gear. The best strategy for maximizing the total tonnage yield is to fish optimally for the h<:rbivorous genus Tilapia. This nleans using: only the larger gillnets appropriate for Tilapia, a, w~ll as hoob, both at a very high fishing efTort. The hooks captur<: large predators such a.' lJw.;I'IIS, Clarias. and Proropterus, an abundant r<:source in themselves, and imultaneously appear to incr ,he Tilapia yields indirectly by reducing losses of Tilapia to predators.