ECOLOGICAL AND FISHERIES MANAGEMENT OF EDKU LAKE 6. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF FISHING WITH SEINE NETON FISHPOPULATION AT EDKU LAKE

ECOLOGICAL AND FISHERIES MANAGEMENT OF EDKU LAKE
6. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF FISHING WITH
SEINE NETON FISHPOPULATION AT EDKU LAKE
BY
A.A. ALSAYES*
•National Institute ofOceanography and FISheries andfISheries
Keywords: Egwt -Lake -Fisheries Seine net -Management
ABSTRACT
Seine net is one ofthe illegalfishing methods Widely used at Edku Lake.
Experimental fishing with seine net having stretched mesh sizes of2. 88cm,
3.65cm and 4.28cm were used at Edku Lake dUring the period from
November 1999 to March 2001.
Oreochromis aureus and Sarotherodon galilaeus dominated the catch of
seine net dUring summer and Winter. Clarias /azera was the most dominant
species dUring spring.
It was found that the average lengths ofthe ti/apia fish caught by seine
net were around 10.Ocm or even less with an average weight around
20.0gm. This means that most of the fish caught were undersized ana
unmarketable.
It is possible to conclude thatfishing with seine net adversely afficts the
breeding cycle of the fish species liVing at the lake. Most ofthe fish are
caught before attaining the length atfirst maturity. On the other hand the
adults ofthe males andfemales are caught while carrying out the parental
care and aeration oftheir eggs in the nests.
It is strongly recommended to prevent fishing with seine net at Edku
Lake. This will lead to the increase of the annual fish production of the
Lake.