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The influence of thermal stratification on pelagic fish yields in Lake Kariba, Zambia/Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Mtada O. S. M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1987.tb05739.x
Subject(s) - sardine , pelagic zone , water column , hypolimnion , epilimnion , stratification (seeds) , biology , fishery , zooplankton , nutrient , thermal stratification , plankton , oceanography , ecology , eutrophication , fish <actinopterygii> , thermocline , seed dormancy , botany , germination , dormancy , geology
Lake Kariba is thermally stratified for about 9 months of the year. The Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon (Boulenger), thrives very well when the water is in circulation and when its food (zooplankton) is abundant due to increased nutrients in the water column. There is a fall in the sardine yields as the water column gets partitioned into a nutrient‐poor epilimnion and a nutrient‐rich hypolimnion during thermal stratification. A very high negative correlation ( r 2 = 0.94, n = 32) was found between thermal stratification and the monthly yields of the sardines. This uneven annual distribution of sardine yields creates problems for the local fishery.