Evolution and management of the mukene (Rastrineobola argentea) fishery

Abstract

Rastrineobola argentea locally known as mukene inUganda, omena in Kenya and dagaa in Tanzania occursin Lake Nabugabo, Lake Victoria, the Upper VictoriaNileand Lake Kyoga (Greenwood 1966). While its fisheryis well established on Lakes Victoria and Kyoga, thespecies is not yet exploited on Lake Nabugabo.Generally such smaller sized fish species as R. argentea become important commercial species in lakes where they occur when catches of preferred largersized table fish start showing signs ofdecline mostly as a result of overexploitation.With the current trends of declining fish catches on Lake Nabugabo, human exploitation of mukene on this lake is therefore just a matter of time. The speciesis exploited both for direct human consumption and as the protein ingredient in the manufacture of animal feeds.