Lake Victoria connects the East African nations of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. We present here a review of the scientific literature on biodiversity and contaminants (heavy metals, pesticides) in fish from Lake Victoria on Jinja, Uganda. The review was performed using PubMed and PMC databases at the National Library of Medicine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). Preliminary results will be presented.
The most common fish found in Lake Victoria, Uganda include among others: Nile perch (Lates nilotocus), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea), catfish (Xenoclarias eupogon), elephant-snout fish (Mormyrus kannume), Nila killfish (Micropanchax loati), marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) and cichlid fish (Haplochromis thereuterion).
Very limited information was found about chemical contaminants in fish of Lake Victoria in Uganda. Most references found were about metals in Nile perch. Results showed that Nile perch generally contains low levels of heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, zinc). Some studies have found that fish in the lake can bioaccumulate these metals to levels that exceed WHO, EU, and USEPA limits. However, other studies have found that some heavy metals are present at levels that are safe for human consumption (Ogwok et al. 2009). Mercury and lead were detected in most samples while arsenic and cadmium were below detection limits, suggesting that Nile perch may accumulate significant amounts of chemical contaminants.
Considering the new CAFW’s initiative of Rotary International (RI) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to protect, restore, and sustain freshwater ecosystems (www.rotary.org/en/rotary-unep-partnership), we plan to build collaborations with Rotaracts and Rotary Clubs from countries connecting Lake Victoria to obtain preliminary results and prepare a global grant to perform research on conservation of biodiversity and pollution to address food safety and food security issues.