Assesment of socio-ecological factors affecting Lake Baringo fishery,Kenya

Abstract

Fishing in Lake Baringo is a major source of income, to the local commtmities. But it faces threats due to overexploitation and environmental degradation leading to decrease in depth, surface area, increased turbidity and reduced availability of freshwater fish species thus exposing the dependent communities to the risk of food insecurity. This study examined how socio-ecological factors affected fishery in Lake Baringo. Factors assessed were socioeconomic factors, vegetation structure and composition and water quality. A structured questionnaire was purposively used to obtain data from 91 respondents, Vegetation was sampled using quadrat method on three different plots measuring 50m by 500m, along the shores of the 1ake.'Physicochemical parameters were measured monthly for a period of six months, to determine the water quality. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that age category was significant to fish catch, with P- value 0.004, other socioeconomic factors was not significant to fish catch with P- value >0. 05 . Vegetation species most common in the study area was Prosopis juliflora with a frequency and density of 26.25 and 26.04% respectively, while the least dense was Hypoestes verticilla, with a frequency and density of 0,285 and 0.32% respectively. Physicochemical parameters used in simple linear regression fitted the model well, with a Coefficient of determination (R2), being 0,782 which meant that 78.2% of thewariation in the dependent variable (fish production) was explained by the independent variables included in the linear regression model (Temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, depth and turbidity). Lake Baringo was in good condition to support fishery based on the physicochemical parameters and vegetation structure and composition but there was high dependence of the resource from the lake. Therefore the study recommends enforcement of effective legal policies and regulations and active fisher community participation in management to ensure sustainable use of the resources. Key words: Physicochemical parameters, fish production, water quality, vegetation structure and composition, Lake Baringo.