13
Nile Perch Population Dynamics
in Lake Victoria:
Implications for Management
and Conservation
Les Kaufman and Jesse Schwartz
Indecision is likea stepchild : if he does not wash his hands, he is called
dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.
African proverb
In this chapter you will:
• See the application of mass and energy balance theory to understand
changes in community structure and ecosystem productivity;
• Explore management regimes that may address the concerns of both conservation biologists and fishery managers in the Lake Victoria fisheries;
13.1. Introduction
Lake Victoria, East Africa, is home to the largest freshwater fishery in the
world. The lake is the source of food and water to millions of people, and
provides a large portion of the region's economic base. Humans have
greatly structured and affected the fishery, food web, and water quality
through the introduction of exotic fishes, but have yet to develop a comprehensive and proactive management plan for the system. To the outside
world, it seems that there is considerable confusion about what to do with
a highly dynamic and productive fishery that has both bolstered the economy and devastated the food web of Lake Victoria.
We have developed a dynamic simulation of a Nile perch fishery to begin
to address these concerns. Below we provide a brief history of the lake and
the fishery, our logic and equations used to develop our model, a brief
analysis of the model's performance, and some suggestions for further
study. We hope this model will be a catalyst and prompt a new and refined
dialog among the lake's stakeholders regarding its stewardship. The model
257
M. Ruth et al. (Eds.), Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation
© Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 2002
Nile Perch Population Dynamics
in Lake Victoria:
Implications for Management
and Conservation
Les Kaufman and Jesse Schwartz
Indecision is likea stepchild : if he does not wash his hands, he is called
dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.
African proverb
In this chapter you will:
• See the application of mass and energy balance theory to understand
changes in community structure and ecosystem productivity;
• Explore management regimes that may address the concerns of both conservation biologists and fishery managers in the Lake Victoria fisheries;
13.1. Introduction
Lake Victoria, East Africa, is home to the largest freshwater fishery in the
world. The lake is the source of food and water to millions of people, and
provides a large portion of the region's economic base. Humans have
greatly structured and affected the fishery, food web, and water quality
through the introduction of exotic fishes, but have yet to develop a comprehensive and proactive management plan for the system. To the outside
world, it seems that there is considerable confusion about what to do with
a highly dynamic and productive fishery that has both bolstered the economy and devastated the food web of Lake Victoria.
We have developed a dynamic simulation of a Nile perch fishery to begin
to address these concerns. Below we provide a brief history of the lake and
the fishery, our logic and equations used to develop our model, a brief
analysis of the model's performance, and some suggestions for further
study. We hope this model will be a catalyst and prompt a new and refined
dialog among the lake's stakeholders regarding its stewardship. The model
257
M. Ruth et al. (Eds.), Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation
© Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 2002