Captured Species
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Photo	Names
Illustrations by Chris Van Dusen Images Courtesy of Seafood Business Magazine	Latin: Lates Nilotica French: Perche du Nil Spanish: Perca del Nilo Japanese: Bikutoriakopachi

Description

Lake Victoria perch was formerly called the Nile perch. However, it is not a true perch, nor did it ever live in the Nile. The fish was introduced into Lake Victoria to control the population of another species. It has nearly destroyed the lake's 350 native species of fish and has worked its way to the top of the lakes food chain. It can grow to enormous sizes. Perch weighing 240 kg (530 lbs) have been reported. Typical commercial sizes range between 3 and 6 kg (7-13 lbs). This fish is the most important fish food in Africa.

Markets	Commercial Aspects
Exporting Countries Capture: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda Primary Consumers United States, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Spain	Between 300,000 to 500,000 tons of the fish are landed annually

Production Trends	Diet/Health Info
It is believed that current stocks are overfished, but the extent of the overfishing is unknown. For the present current production levels are expected to continue.	-----

The Global Supply

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