BIODIVERSITY SURVEY REPORT ON FISHERIES RESOURCE ASSESSMENT STUDY ON LANDMARK UNIVERSITY DAM, OMU- ARAN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Post by: lmu
November 2, 2023
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Report on Fishing Activities carried out on Landmark University Dam for Convocation Exhibition for 3 consecutives day from 15^th May to 18^th May,2023

The aim of fishing activities carried out on Landmark University Dam is to harness and harvest the biodiversity of fisheries resources in the dam for convocation exhibition, and to determine the increase in biodiversity of fisheries resources from the after the first and second biodiversity survey on the dam from 2021 to 2023.For the fishing operation, two (2) local fishermen were engaged on the dam for the fishing activities for 3 days. Gill nets as a passive fishing gear were used to catch fishes on the dam by the use of a canoe paddled by the two fishermen. The fishing activities involved 3 evening and 2 afternoon catches. The fishes caught were quickly removed and preserved in the freezer for sorting and identification purposes with the use of an identification guide book on freshwater fishes’ species identification.

However, all the fish samples caught were identified with the aid of fish identification guides. A total number of One hundred and four (104) fish were caught and the most abundant of the fish species were from the Cichlidae family with Tilapia zillii as the major species that dominated the dam. Other groups of Cichlidae family caught include: Sarotherodon galilaeus (Mango), Sarotherodon melanotheron (Black chin) and Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia). The other fish species caught was from the family of Clariidae, which include: The Silver catfish, (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) and a wild catfish, Clarias anguilaris. There are two (2) prominent families in the dam: Cichlidae and Clariidae, and seven (7) fish species were caught from the dam.

Observations and recommendations on species biodiversity of the LMU dam:

The dominance nature of Cichlidae family (Tilapia) fishes from the fishing activities carried out; showing high species index of their family with low species index of Clariidae family (Catfish), a carnivorous fish family as effective predator to check-mate the high Cichlidae family in the dam which supported the richness in species diversity of Tilapia zilli in the dam.

There is a possibility of ecosystem imbalance of the population between the forage(herbivorous) fishes’ family Cichlidae and carnivorous Clariidae family in the dam. Proposed conservation and management plans could be put in place by restocking the existing dam with other fast growing freshwater fish species. The dam could be generating income from fish species harvested and possibly the dam could serve as a tourism center for visitors.

In conclusion, there is a need for the University Management to develop a robust Fisheries Policy Framework on stoppage of Indiscriminate use or dumping of chemicals or pesticides near the LMU Dam site. Also, possibility of erecting billboards near the dam site to sign-post as warning to the dumping of chemicals or any waste into the water body. The dam could be -restocked with fast growing fish species with the use of cage culture system on the dam.

Keywords: LMU Dam, Fishermen, Canoe, Fish species

Plate1: Photograph on identification of Fish species caught from the dam in May,2023 and other SDG-14 activities:

Fish species labelled A, B, C, D, E from left to right are: Orechromis niloticus, Sarotherondon galilaeus,Tilapia zillii, Sarotherondon melanotheron and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus