Nile Perch Essay

The Nile Perch is an important fish in Africa and a prized catch for a sport fishermen, and could be very expensive to sell. The Nile Perch has black eyes with a silver and blue tinge. The Lates Niloticus, also known as the Nile perch, is one of the most prized fish to catch for fishermen. However, other people in the area do not see the fish as such a prize, the fish’s diet consists of the fish ordinary people are used to consuming in their own diet. The average Nile perch weighs in at five hundred pounds and up to six feet long. The fish tends to cause disarray when introduced to new areas, consuming fish of native populations. The fish has very distinctive features, its body is a slight blue color and it also has black eyes with a yellow

However, there were many side effects of placing the fish into a native area. Since the fish was artificially placed into the lake, researchers did not realize the fish’s skin was too oily and would ultimately cause harm to natural growth along the river banks. As a result, the banks began to erode into the lake. The high nutrient levels introduced to the river have also led to increased levels of algae and water hyacinth. The increased algae levels and water hyacinth have resulted in the death of more fish. The fish has not just made an impact on the environment, it has also affected the communities of the native people in the area. Men and women have been displaced from their usual fishing and refining work (Lowe, SJ, Browne, M, Boudjelas, S,

Prices of all fish, including tilapia and Nile perch, have doubled in the last two years. The freshwater fishing industry is much more popular than the ocean fishing industry, and more than two million people rely on fishing as their income. Majority of fishermen catch their products from Lake Victoria, and most of the fish they catch is the Nile perch. Even though the fish has driven many fish to extinction, fishermen see the fish as a staple in their economy. However, natives to the area have said the amount of fish being caught has significantly dropped, and many believe it is due to a combination of climate change and overfishing. Evidence for the declining population can be seen in the five percent drop between 2009 and 2011, and the average size of Nile perch being caught is also smaller. Overfishing means a lot of the fish do not grow into maturity before being caught, and evidence shows the average size of fish being caught dropped by about half between 2008 and 2010 (McDonnel,