Limitations for informed decision making and better management of the transboundary Lake Albert fisheries resources

Lake Albert, located in the western arm of the East African Rift Valley and shared between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo supports a rich diversity of aquatic fauna and flora. The lake’s biodiversity is threatened by anthropogenic stressors such as excessive fishing effort, destruction of shoreline vegetation, and increasing water pollution. Fishing is the major economic activity supporting the livelihoods of the riparian communities in terms of food, employment and income. However, limited data and information exist on the lake’s fisheries and biodiversity to inform sustainable development and management decisions. We examined the past and ongoing research and management interventions on Lake Albert, to identify critical gaps that need to be addressed in the medium (five years) and long term, to restore the ecosystem health of Lake Albert. We reveal that previous research on Lake Albert has been limited in scope, mainly based on fishery-dependent assessments (fishing effort and catch) and skewed to Ugandan portion, with minimal attention to the lake’s diverse biodiversity and ecosystem as a whole. We propose long-term ecosystem-based research to obtain comprehensive information that will positively inform good management policies for healthy and sustainable resources in the lake.