Angling: An Emerging Fishery in Lake Naivasha?

Abstract

Lake Naivasha is an endorheic lake lying in the eastern part of Kenyan Rift Valley. The Lake is found south of the equator (0°45’S, 36°20’E) at an altitude of about 1890 m above sea level and about 80km north west of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city [1]. The lake is shallow with a mean depth of 3.4 m, deepening towards its south-western part to a maximum of 8 m in depth, though the deepest part of the lake is at 16 m off Crescent Island [1,2]. The areas surrounding the lake are semi-arid with the average annual rainfall of 1350 mm in the mountains to 600 mm on the shores of the lake. The rainy season is divided into the long rains from April to May and short rains from October to November [3]. The average temperature is 25°C with minimal annual variability and the lowest yearly temperatures are recorded in May-August [4].