Singidia Tilapia and African catfish caught during monitoring of the recovery of fish populations on Lake Kayugi

Native tilapia fishes namely; Victoria tilapia (Oreochromis variabilis) and Singidia tilapia (Oreochromis esculentus) are critically endangered fish species endemic to lakes Victoria and Kyoga basins in Uganda. However they disappeared from these main lakes majorly due to environmental degradation and aggressive competition for food, breeding and nursery grounds from introduced fish species such as Nile tilapia. Although these fish species are now surviving in satellite lakes including Kayanja and Kayugi, their survival in these lakes are at risk due to various threats such as habitat degradation, fragmentation, modification and competition from introduced Nile tilapia. This project will contribute to fostering population recovery of these threatened native tilapia fishes through working with Fish Conservation Committees (FCCs) and other stakeholders by addressing the following specific objectives:

(a) to protect the mapped breeding and nursery areas, and safe havens of critically endangered native tilapia fishes on lakes Kayanja and Kayugi ,

(b) to monitor the population and abundance of these critically endangered fishes in the two lakes

(c) to enhance conservation awareness about the conservation status of native tilapia fish and their habitats.

The techniques to be employed to implement the activities of this project are participatory in nature and focuses on working directly with resources users mainly fishermen, government representatives and youth to protect and conserve fish fauna and their habitat. These methodologies are comprehensive since it will facilitate learning and sharing of ideas and experiences, networking, training and collective actions of all the stakeholders to revive the populations of native fish species in the wild. Main conservation outputs will include but not limited to:

a) Protection of all the breeding and nursery habitats, and safe havens of critically endangered native tilapia fishes mapped on lakes Kayanja and Kayugi by FCC team to facilitate the recovery of population of these fish species in the wild.

b) Increased commitment and enthusiasm of fishing communities and public to conserve fish fauna and their habitats.

c) Increased level of awareness about the conservation status of the targeted fish species and their habitats.

The main conservation importance of this project will be the recovery of the population of Victoria tilapia (Oreochromis variabilis) and Singidia tilapia (Oreochromis esculentus), cichlids fish species presently classified as critically endangered according to IUCN Red List Status, 2006.