ABSTRACT

A thirty-six (36) weeks investigation was carried out from May, 2017 to January, 2018 covering wet and dry seasons, to determine the fish fauna and fishing gears in the Upper Ekole River in Bayelsa State. This research work was aimed at providing information on the fish stock and fishing gear used by fisher folks. During the assessment, fish samples were randomly collected from fisher-folks twice weekly from five sampling stations along the River. The fishes collected were counted, measured, and identified with identification keys. Species diversity, abundance and catches were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA P<0.05) and Pearson correlation (2 tailed). The diversity and relative abundance were determined using standard methods. Results revealed that, the River was composed of 70 species from 37 families, 16 orders and 52 genera from a total catch of 44,124. Fish species diversity was reported highest in the family Mormyridae (15.71%) and least in Nephropidae (1.43%) amongst others. The fish relative abundance was highest in Kryptopterus bicirrhis (16.42%), Marcusenius senegalensis (0.88%), Chrysichthys aluuensis (0.41%), Marcusenius cyprinoides (0.22%), and least in Chaceon rnaritae (0.0 1%). Fishing gears used were cast nets, gill nets, seine nets, drag nets, dugout canoe, drift nets, Atalla (lift net), gura traps, clap nets, long-lines, hooks and lines, round traps, drum traps, non-return valve traps, cutlasses and machetes. This showed high fish species diversity, although some species showed higher diversity values than others due to fish gear variation, mesh size, duration and location. There was a very high correlation between species relative abundance and catches, while a negative correlation was observed between species relative abundance and locations as well as catches and locations. This study could serve as a baseline data to relevant bodies in the conservation, management and sustainability of the fisheries resources. The anthropogenic activities along the Upper Ekole River should be monitored and checked to avoid undue alteration of the ecosystem and subsequently the fishing grounds in relationship with fish species habitats.