Lake Victoria: The Problems and Options
by Dave Ball
President of the Southern Colorado Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
There are many issues concerning the status of the Haplochromine species in
Lake Victoria and the surrounding river systems. The main problem is the extinction of the
natural fauna of the lake. Since the introduction of the Lates sp. (Nile Perch)
into the lake, approximately 150 different species of Haplochromis have become
extinct. The Nile Perch can reach a length of over 6 feet and up to 100 pounds in weight.
This fish is a pursuit predator with a very large appetite. The fish was introduced into
the lake as a food fish in order to provide an alternate protein source for the local
human population. This idea has worked but at the expense of nature. Other alternatives
were considered such as an irrigation system and the construction of a dam to create a
man-made reservoir to provide a habitat for the fish. The cost of both projects were
extremely costly and turned out to be not very feasible. The terrain proved to be
unsuitable for farming and a dam would have caused long term and even irreversible damage
to both flora and fauna in the immediate area around the dam and to the river systems
below. Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile River and a dam along that river system
would have created problems in several countries. So, the lesser of all evils was chosen,
or so it was thought to have been.
Many species of animals have been wiped out by man, either through deliberate action or
by a series of events where damage was done but the source was not found until too late.
Other animal species are either endangered, threatened, or extremely rare. These are the
areas that need man's help. Looking at the Lake Victoria problem as a whole, there seems
to be two main courses of action. One is “Save Lake Victoria” and the other is
“Preserve Lake Victoria”. The latter of these two opinions is the most feasible
at the current time. Both the lake proper and the Nile Perch are going to be around for a
little while longer.
There is an estimated time frame of about 10 - 12 years before the Nile Perch has wiped
out all the species it can eat. The perch won’t be able to wipe out everything
because there are areas in the lake where the Haplochromines and other fish can
elude and hide from this predator. The next stage will be the die-off of the perch when it
has nothing to eat. The perch do spawn and produce large numbers of offspring, however
there are many Haplochromis species that are ambush and fry predators. These,
along with the nocturnal predators, will gradually whittle down the perch population.
There is some speculation that this chain of events could wipe out the perch in 8 - 10
years after the majority of the endemic species are gone. Nature has a way of recovering
from man’s interventions. The one thing that could change this possible natural
course would be another intervention by man involving stocking the lake on a regular basis
to keep the perch populations up. This is not a very likely event because it would involve
the building of a hatchery, which is what could have been a viable solution in the first
place.
Hatcheries are in use by many countries to boost food supplies for their people.
Granted it would take several of these and a couple of years before they started
producing, but with Lake Victoria being one of the top ten largest lakes in the world,
supplying water to the hatcheries would not be a problem. The rest of this solution
involves time, education, training, and manpower.
The idea of raising fish out of their natural habitat has been around for centuries.
Hobbyists have been doing this for decades. This is where the aquarist can assist with the
“Conserve Lake Victoria” concept and possibly help with the reintroduction of
the existing species into the lake. Conservation and captive breeding programs are the
best methods for dealing with the problem in the lake. The Lake Victoria Research and
Conservation Program (LVRCP) is a large group of scientists, doctors, researchers, and
collectors doing the bulk of the work of studying and classifying the remaining species
endemic to the lake. They allow wild-caught specimens into the hobby at a controlled rate.
Offspring from these fish are used to keep a large gene pool and to stock the tanks at
various museums around the world that participate in captive breeding programs. Many
species that are new to the hobby can be acquired through conservation networks, various
clubs, breeding guilds, aquatic related business and both national and international
organizations. There are several species of the Victorian Haplochromines
available to the hobbyist at this time with more on the way.
When a hobbyist joins a conservation oriented organization and accepts the challenge of
raising and caring for threatened or rare species of fish, a new door opens up. (AUTHOR'S
NOTE: endangered species are not normally released to the general public.) Most of the
threatened species require the owner to keep records. These help keep track of the size of
the gene pool for any given species. After the gene pools in various areas reach a
specified size, fish are then swapped between several breeders to keep the pool as large
and diverse as possible. This can be quite a large task when you deal with more than 2 or
3 species.
Another way the hobbyist can get involved but on a less demanding scale is to join a
local and/or national club. Many of these organizations, if not all of them, have breeder
award programs (BAP). These allow the aquarists to breed fish and get awards for their
effort. The extra bonus is the satisfaction of knowing that you have achieved a new level
of success in creating the right environment for your animals. Fish don’t spawn and
raise fry if their conditions fail to make them comfortable.
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