Fish Assemblages and Fishery Analysis at the Mare aux Hippopotames in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Fish populations and the exploitation of water bodies data are essential for the implementation of sustainable fisheries management strategies. Thus, fish diversity, fisheries production and fishermen's income in the «Mare aux Hippopotames» located in western Burkina Faso were studied. This study aims to characterise the fish fauna and fisheries in this natural lake. From 12 to 16 May 2020, experimental fishing was conducted using gillnets with mesh sizes of 10, 20, 35 and 40 mm and cast-nets in five stations. Supplementary data were collected within 22 commercial fishing landings. In total, 1642 fish individuals belonging to 29 species were collected. Twenty-two genera and 13 families were identified. <i>Sarotherodon galilaeus</i> is the dominant species (46.83%) followed by <i>Oreochromis niloticus</i> (11.02%), <i>Brycinus nurse</i> (10.66%). The fish fauna is quite varied and reflects the characteristics of the tropical fish fauna. Length-weight relationship revealed that some fish species have allometric growth while others have isometric growth. The density of fishermen, which is between 0.18 and 0.36 fishers per hectare shows a moderate pressure on the reservoir. The total production of the lake is estimated at 47.85 tonnes per year, i.e. an average yield of 398.78 kg. ha^-1. The average annual income of the fisherman is estimated at 528,000 FCFA.