Ecology and fishery in the Cross River Estuary - a research project

A literature review of 50 titles including nearly all relevant publications ensures adequate basis on the present level of knowledge. The proposal includes (a) the determination of the biozoenosis and selected environmental factors, and (b) of fishery and stock data of the main fish and shellfish species. The ecological research studies physical and chemical variables of the estuarine waters (flow velocity and direction, water temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, nutrients such as ammonium, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, pollutants such as hybrocarbons, pesticides and heavy metals, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand), plankton (bacterio-phyto-and zooplankton), benthos, sediment. The fishery biological and fishery investigations include: number of villages and fishermen, number of boats and gears by type, length and weight data of the main fishery objects with concentration on the shrimps, species and numbers of fish parasites. The ecological variables were monitored at fixed stations on sections in the Cross-River Estuary, Calabar and Great Kwara Rivers two times per month during spring and neap tides. The fishery biological and fishery variables were obtained during spring and neap tide too. For the determination of the detailed methodology the ecological and fishery part of the progeamme should be started with frame surveys based on a larger number of stations. These frame surveys should be repeated from time to time. Both parts of the programme are based on three years duration. It seems already appropriate to continue the work with selected representative stations, villages and variables in form of a long-term data chain