Nile perch released in Lake Victoria in 1954 linked to loss of 200+ cichlids
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Uganda's colonial-era fisheries officers released Nile perch into Lake Victoria in 1954, and the IUCN database names it a main cause of the loss of 200 or more endemic cichlid species. At stake for nature is the lake's endemic cichlid fauna.
- Fish processing plants — Most of the value of the Nile perch trade; 63% in Uganda IUCN Global Invasive Species Database
- Endemic cichlid species — 200 or more species lost; IUCN names Nile perch a main cause IUCN Global Invasive Species Database
- Lakeshore communities — Could not afford Nile perch prices; local tilapia became rare and expensive
What happened
Uganda's colonial-era fisheries officers released Nile perch into Lake Victoria in 1954, and the Nation newspaper reported that the first release was secret.
Official releases followed in 1959 and in 1962–63.
The IUCN Global Invasive Species Database names Nile perch as a main cause of the loss of 200 or more endemic cichlid species.
The fish became the base of an export industry, and processing plants took most of the value, 63% of it in Uganda, according to the IUCN database.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Geoffrey Fryer, of the Jinja research body, warned in 1960 that the introduction would endanger the tilapia fishery.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Fisheries Department said the introduction was unintentional.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: additional releases came after the 1960 warning.
- None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: the current state of the lake's fish stocks, and whether the cichlid losses have been measured since.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- IUCN GISD species profile (Nile perch)IUCN Global Invasive Species Database ·