Approaches to estimating fish biomass and potential yield in Lake Tanganyika

The annual fish yield of 73 000 tonnes (22.5 kg/ha) from Lake Tanganyika consists primarily of two planktivorous clupeids Stolothrissa tanganicae (Stdr.) and Limnothrissa miodon (Blgr.) and their centropomid predators, three Lates species (Nile perch) and Luciolates stappersii (Blgr.). At the north and south ends of the lake, the Lates spp. have been fished‐up by purse‐seines, and the clupeids and young L. stappersii predominate there. Estimates of pelagic fish biomass may employ (i) catch and fishing effort data (ii) abiotic variables (iii) echo‐sounding surveys (iv) tropho‐dynamic relationships.