Uganda’s scientists majoring in fisheries research have come up with a solution of documenting information about fish farming including all fish species in all water bodies across the country.

Researchers and information seekers about fresh water biodiversity and fisheries will no longer be looking for scattered information about the subject in paper form because everything is available in an online portal developed by Fisheries scientists.

Background

Experts believe Agriculture and biodiversity go hand in hand. Developed by humans approximately 12,000 years ago, agriculture harnesses all dimensions of biodiversity from genes and landscapes to the capacity for biomass production and services.

However the number of species contributing to the world’s food has been reduced in favor of the most productive species which has led to major changes in the environments used for their production.

Scientists began popularizing the biodiversity concept in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro with focus on ecological diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity.

It was also in 1992 that the Convention on Biological Diversity was signed, the first text of international law to define biological diversity and recognize it as a value that States must protect.

It was defined as the variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are par.

It is upon this background that scientists at the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFRRI) jointly with those at the National Environment Management Authority and Makerere University college of Natural Resources came up with the idea of setting up website portal to provide data about all fish species in all the water bodies in the country.

A portal is a web-based platform that collects information from different sources into a single user interface and presents users with the most relevant information for their context.

Considering all species in Uganda whose conservation status has been assessed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it is estimated that fish is the most threatened of all aquatic taxa, with the highest number of threatened species (49 species), forming 30% of all threatened species

Data collection and success of portal development

Mark Olokotum the in charge of data mobilisation at NaFIRRI explaining the mode of developing the website with all the available information at hand explained that the time for scientists to carry out research and keep the information in the labs is over.

“”We scientists are moving from our labs to the world and it is the reason we went out to collect data about fish to know which fish species are in which lake of river making it available to the public,” he noted.

He explained that when his team read the available information about biodiversity, there is information about birds and reptiles but nothing about fish the reason the initiated a project with funding from developmental partners to collect data fish in Uganda’s fresh water bodies.

The team identified critical water habitat in various water bodies including identification of key 49 fish species out of the 350 plus in the various water bodies.

The data comprises of information which fish species are at a danger of getting extinct, where are fish cages installed in various water bodies and which are areas suitable for fish to breed which must not be disturbed by activities such as construction of dams among others.

Once someone visits the website, there are various sections where information can be obtained. A case in point the various fish species identified with pictures, the genetic profile of the fish species. This is to enable scientists to know which fish species can breed well in which water body

He said the information is friendly and can be understood by students pursuing courses on fish breeding, researchers and general public.

However the team was unable to profile all the 350plus fish species in Uganda’s water bodies due to financial constraints though they intend to do these in next phase of the project where they are expecting another grant

During the discussions about the portal, scientists pointed out the importance of the portal which they say will be of help because previously people used to go and get scattered information which on paper in the fisheries research institute.

This data will be incorporated in the world data base for other information seekers to access across the globe about Uganda’s fish and its habitat.

Information on how to protect endangered fish species  

Mr Anthony Basoma a scientists at NaFIRRI giving a case-study on freshwater biodiversity data use in conservation planning, a novel conservation priority index for Uganda explained that the country’s aquatic ecosystems make a significant part of the surface area, with open waters and wetlands covering 41743.2 km2

It comprise five major lakes namely Victoria, Kyoga, Albert, Edward and George and over 160 small lakes supporting diverse aquatic species including fish.

Most estimates indicate presence of 501-600 fish species in the country with most of these estimates based on scattered species inventories, a considerable number of fish species undescribed and some aquatic ecosystems not frequently monitored.

He said according to the list, fish species in Uganda are distributed among 21 families and 49 genera. The family Cichlidae is the most diverse with about 66.4% of all fish species, followed by Cyprinidae with about 10%.