Observations on fishing methods in Oyan Lake, Nigeria

The study investigated the catch rate of fishing gears used by artisanal fisherman in Oyan lake. Catches from fishing operations conducted between June to December 2008 was analyzed to determine diversity of fish species captured by gillnet, cast net, hook and line, long line and trap.The results revealed that fourteen fish species belonging to thirteen families were recorded during the study. The family Momyridae was represented by two fish species while the remaining families were represented by one species each. it was observed that catches were dominated generally by immature individual with about 58.4% of total catches being undersized fishes. Six out of thirteen fish species were caught by all the fishing gears while gillnet and castnet caught all the fish species in the study. Gillnet efficiency was the highest with catches dominated by Heterotis niloticus, Tilapia zillii, and Clarias gariepinus while long line was the least efficient in terms of fish caught. Further results also showed that peak biomass was recorded in September accounting for 17.5% of the total monthly fish biomass while the minimum biomass was recorded in December. All these observations indicate there is need to improve upon the design of gears and their proper use