KAMPALA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A regional approach to regulate fish maw trade is needed to protect Nile perch stocks in Lake Victoria from being depleted, a fishery expert with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said here on Tuesday.
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania need a joint approach to regulate the fish maw trade which threatens the Nile perch species in Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake which is shared by the three countries, said Jacob Olwo, FAO fisheries and aquaculture officer at FAO Uganda office.
"If we leave it unregulated it has a risk of depleting the resources," Olwo told reporters.
He noted that high prices have forced the fishermen to look for the bigger Nile perches to get bigger maws and make more money.
He said the bigger Nile perches are responsible for replenishing the stock and if they are depleted, there will no longer be any more Nile perches in the lake.
Uganda is making a law that would regulate the trade in fish maw, which supplies to a large market in Asia, he told reporters.
The Nile perch is a fish of substantial economic and food-security importance in East Africa.
