Breeding seasons of some commercially important fishes in Ethiopia: Implications for fish management

Fishing during periods close to spawning (breeding) season results in a decline in fish population. Identifying the breeding season of each fish species is important for conservation and aquaculture development. Published and unpublished sources of data were used to prepare this review manuscript. Based on the review process, it is possible to observe that the breeding season of fish occurred all year round. Although, the intensive or peak breeding period occurred uni-annual or bi-annual and also it is different from the fish species as well as the nature of water bodies. The peak breeding seasons of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus was observed from (March-June), (April, June-July), (April-July) and (February-March) in Lakes Chamo, Babogaya,Tana and Hawassa, respectively. The intensive spawning season of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus was appeared at (January and July), (September, March-April and August), (September, April-August), (January-March and July-September) in Fincha Reservoir, Lakes Beseka, Babogaya and Hawassa, respectively. The common carp Cyprinus carpio was breed intensively during (March and June), (February and April) in Fincha and Tropical Amerti Reservoir respectively. The crucian carp Carassius carassius was reproduced from (March-July, August and October) in Melka-Wakena Reservoir. The breeding behavior of the Labeobarbus fish species was observed from (July-October) in the Tana and Blue Nile basin. The breeding condition of fishes in Ethiopian water bodies has been associated with the rainfall and periodicity where the abundance of food items present in water bodies. Generally, the close season of the fish (spawning) depending on physiological and environmental factors attributes that effective management is very important during breeding seasons to sustain fish resources for food security in the country as well as further study is needed why the fish mostly breed in rainy time. Key words: Breeding season, environmental factors, Ethiopia, fishes, lakes, reservoir, physiological factors.