Fish Species Diversity and Fishermen Income in Hashidu Fishing Community, Along River Gongola, Gombe State Nigeria

Abstract

Fish species diversity and socioeconomic status of fishermen was carried out in Hashidu fishing community along river Gongola. Fish were collected from the fishermen on weekly basis over a period of six months cutting across both dry and rainy seasons. Gillnets of different mesh sizes were used to capture the fishes. Fish species were preserved using 10% formalin prior to transportation to laboratory for identification using appropriate fish identification keys. A well designed questionnaire was randomly given to 50 fishermen to extract information on the their socioeconomic status which was evaluated through their monthly income from fishing activities. The results show that the research area is rich with seventeen (16) fish species representing eleven (11) families. The study revealed that family Claridae had highest number of four (4) species, Characidae and Bagridae has two species each, the remaining families had only one species representing each of them. About 54% of the fishermen earn up to and above #30,000, while the remaining 46% of the fishermen earn below #30, 000 monthly which is the Nigerian national minimum wage as at the time of conducting this study. The income of fishermen in the study area is low, which may results to overfishing and negatively affects the conservation of fish species in the study area. Alternative source of income should be created such as farming in order to reduce pressure on the fish population and conserve the fish resources effectively.