Abstract:
There is an old notion that taste of fish caught from Chia Lagoon is different from fish in the adjacent Lake Malawi - two water bodies separated by a sand bar and connected by a short river. This study attempted to determine if this perception could be explained by the type of food in the two water bodies. Proximate composition of fish from the two water bodies was analyzed to establish if taste variations between the two populations of fish were due to diet. Water quality was also assessed. Mean moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash and pH for the fish were 92.02±0.18, 63.71±0.26, 22.23±0.41, 16.35±0.79, 6.31±0.31; 92.04±0.19, 62.84±0.16, 20.80±0.47, 19.10±0.26, 6.35±0.78 respectively, for Chia Lagoon and Lake Malawi. Significantly higher Chlorophyll “a” levels (0.57μg/g), and soluble reactive phosphorous (SRP, 62.28 μg/g), were reported for Chia Lagoon than Lake Malawi (0.31μg/g), (3.82μg/g) (P<0.05) respectively. Chia Lagoon contains twice as much zooplankton as Lake Malawi. Study results suggest a higher nutrient composition of fish from Chia Lagoon than those from Lake Malawi supported by richness in primary productivity. It is concluded that the taste differences between the Tilapia fish of the two water bodies could be linked to the type of food. It is suggested that the effect of seasonal variability in natural food on proximate composition of fish should also be studied to establish a comprehensive tropho-dynamic model of the two water bodies.
