Threats to fish biodiversity conservation in Echara River, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

A study on threats to fish species conservation in Echara River, Nigeria was carried out from September 2009 to February 2011 to generate inferential data for Fisheries policy formulations to assess the potential of the Fishery to alleviate malnutrition among the poor in the rural communities, and use of the living resources for teaching and research. A total number of 709 fishes comprising of Fin-fishes and shell-fishes belonging to 13 families, 19 genera and 40 species were caught in 216 fishing efforts, at 10 days interval using hooks and lines (size 13), cast nets, gill nets and traps of mesh sizes of 50mm, 75mm and l00mm respectively. Fish identification was done using taxonomic keys. Evaluation of fishing methods of the Artisans within the basin was by visual survey and the use of structured questionnaires. It was observed that during the dry season, 55% of artisanal Fishers used obnoxious methods to catch fish, ranging from chemical toxicants (14%), unselective Fishing gears (35%) and direct draining (6%). It was concluded that there is an urgent need for monitoring the impacts of human activities on freshwater systems and to evolve appropriate implementable management strategies, backed up by political will to check anthropogenic impacts that have deleterious effects on the fishery