The Status of Fisheries in Jebal Aulia Reservoir Area With Special Emphasis on the Impact of Fishing on Fish Diversit

Abstract

The study was conducted in Jebal Aulia area, which is extended 9 km north of the dam and 4 km southwards. In order to investigate if there is over-fishing and if so try to measure the economic impact resulting thereafter. ‎60 fishermen were randomly selected. The data were collected using a two type of ‎questionnaires; the first about the socio-economic characteristics of fish production ‎and fishermen in the area and the selected sample was interviewed. The second ‎about the average length of fish for some species. Further formal meetings with ‎administrative personnel were conducted in addition to the secondary data collected ‎from books, references, and relevant bodies. The study proved that the status of Jebal Aulia fishery was depleted and the actual ‎production of the area was exceed the optimal one and that has negatively affected ‎fish resources through: a) Decline in production rate compared to previous years b) Change in fish structure was noticed and also scarcity of some species of fish. c) And duly the sizes of all targeted species significantly decreased. The study also proved that the water level has no effect on the low rate of production ‎in the area. The number of fishermen who practiced fishing illegally is (42) from total (60), which reflected on the sharp difference of lengths of targeted species from the legal length eg. Egel was 19 cm, Dibis was 17 cm, Cas and Kwara were 10 cm. As Jebal Aulia area has recently prospered because of the dam attraction of sizable number of tourists and thus offering new job opportunities, resulting on an increase in population intensity. This might be regarded as one of the causes leading to ‎overfishing. Accordingly, suitable policies should be tailored to achieve the previous ‎plans and goals with ultimate targets of maintaining a sustainable way of conserving fish resources. Polices and plans could be feasible if the following measures Would be ‎respected Implementation should be meant to improve fishing management and conservation. Fishing societies should act in coordination with other environmental societies, such as land and soil fertility conservation societies, forest protection and improvement ‎societies and finally water and sanitation societies. Research on fish biodiversity should be encouraged and improved , because our libraries lack such studies.