The sea bass has fewer spines and more meat, and the taste is very delicious, how to cook it is very delicious. It is a very economically valuable fish and has always been a favorite fish of farmers. Of course, as an angler, when fishing with Lua, you will definitely be happy to catch a sea bass, feel good and enjoy delicious.
In China, the sea bass is listed as one of the "Four Famous Freshwater Fishes in China" along with the Yellow River carp, mandarin fish and the large white fish of Xingkai Lake in Heilongjiang. There are many types of perch, and the species of perch in China are mainly Songjiang perch, also known as four-gilt perch.
Although the perch is an economic fish, it is also an invasive fish, which is what we often call an exotic species. Cause harm to local native fish, directly or indirectly lead to the extinction of native fish. One of the places is deeply affected and desperate, and this place is Lake Victoria.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > learn about Lake Victoria</h1>
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake in the world, after Lake Superior. It is located on the east African plateau, mostly in tanzania and Uganda, and a small part belongs to Kenya, which is the boundary lake of the three countries.
The lake is between the Great Rift Valley and its western branch, in the northern part of the shallow and wide basin between the rift valleys, and the lake basin is formed due to the ground depression, so the origin of Lake Victoria is completely different from other large lakes on the East African plateau.
The area of Lake Victoria is 69,400 square kilometers, the lake surface is 1134 meters above sea level, the lake is irregular quadrilateral, the longest is 337 kilometers from north to south, the widest from east to west is 240 kilometers, the shoreline of the lake is more than 3220 kilometers long, the average water depth is 40 meters, and the maximum known depth is 82 meters.
Lake Victoria is a multi-island group and reef, which is usually just below the crystal clear water, perfect for fish survival. Lake Victoria is currently known to have more than 200 species of fish, making it the largest freshwater fish-producing region in Africa, with an annual catch of about 120,000 tonnes. The lake is mainly rich in tilapia, with tilapia being the most economically valuable until it was broken in 1952.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > how perch were introduced to Lake Victoria</h1>
Although there are more than 200 kinds of fish in Lake Victoria, the most economically valuable fish is tilapia, it can be said that the economic value created by Lake Victoria is not high, but it can meet the living needs of people in various countries. There are also many unique species growing in the lake, forming a complete ecosystem, known as "Darwin's Dream Pond", and this "Dream Pool" became "Darwin's Nightmare" after the introduction of sea bass, and the native fish in the lake began to be threatened, causing the extinction of many fish species.
What is even more tragic is that the decision to introduce the sea bass was not made by the African people, but by the British. There was no awareness of the invasion of alien species at that time, and the British colonists decided to introduce sea bass into the lake in order to solve the growing economic problems of the African people (mainly to solve the problem of hunger). It was introduced to Lake Victoria in 1954 (some sources say it was introduced in 1962), and the introduced species of sea bass was the Nile barramundi, the African perch.
The purpose of introducing sea bass is mainly two points, one is to increase the economic value of the lake, increase the income of fishermen, and contribute to the economy of the three countries; the other is that there are many fish with no economic value in Victoria and Lake, and these economically valuable fish are mainly bass on the lich family, and the African perch just likes to prey on these fish. Isn't it a very good thing to feed a delicious and economical fish with an uneconomical fish? Thus the perch was successfully introduced into the lake.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > the condition of sea bass in Lake Victoria</h1>
When the Nile barramundi was introduced, there were no natural predators in the new environment and there was plenty of food, especially the cichlids they liked to eat. And their reproductive ability is strong, so it soon dominated Lake Victoria, growing freely in the lake, resulting in a large number of 100 to 200 pounds of large Nile perch.
The Nile barramundi grows to 200 kg on Lake Victoria, and the saddest is the native fish. Because the Nile barramundi is a powerful predator in Lake Victoria, the native fish in the lake are not its opponents at all, and can only become its food. So they can easily get food in the lake, and it is precisely because of this that they eat hundreds of species in the lake and become extinct.
According to relevant records, the Nile perch can reach 2 meters in size and weigh 400 pounds. It has been questioned by many people before, thinking that it is exaggerated. But since seeing the sea bass on Lake Victoria, I had to believe it. Many people wonder, is this fat ball and pig-like guy really a Nile perch? Perhaps, the Nile perch is more than 400 pounds the largest!
At present, the ecosystem of Lake Victoria has gradually deteriorated. Since the 1950s, Nile perch have been introduced into the lake with the intention of increasing the output of the lake's fisheries. But the bass has had a catastrophic impact on local ecosystems, with hundreds of endemic species becoming extinct.
Over time, the local African government realized the harm caused by the Nile perch and came up with countless ways to protect the native fish and ecological chain of Lake Victoria from destruction. At present, the emerging practice is to go to Lake Victoria to fish for sea bass, but it has attracted countless anglers. Anglers around the world see Lake Victoria as a Lua's paradise, gathering in Africa's Lake Victoria in pursuit of catching a 200-pound giant bass. Can this, in turn, contribute to African economies?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > written at the end</h1>
At first, the nile perch was introduced to Lake Victoria to solve the problem of hunger among the people of the three countries along the coast, and the starting point was good. However, if the plan is conditional on destroying the original ecology, it will not solve the substantive problem in the end. Moreover, due to the typical agricultural and industrial pollution in Africa, the sea bass produced in Lake Victoria cannot meet the food safety standards of European and American countries and Japan, and there is a problem in exporting without sales. For now, the countries along Lake Victoria are still plagued by poverty.
The introduction of the Nile perch not only did not solve poverty, but also harmed the native fish in the lake, so that many native fish were directly extinct. In fact, Lake Victoria not only failed to introduce sea bass, but also introduced water hyacinths native to the tropics of the Americas, which not only affected water transportation and fishermen fishing, but also affected local hydropower generation, and also affected the drinking water problems of locals. The introduction of these species is worth pondering, but will it be introduced in the future? What will be the consequences?
Final advice: As a fisherman, environmental protection is the responsibility of every angler! Please take away the garbage around you and create a beautiful fishing environment! If there are different views or the author is wrong, you can correct it in the comment area. I'm Fishing Bell Dang, remember to follow me! Thank you