EVALUATION OF TRADITIONAL AND MODIFIED MALIAN TRAPS IN TAGWAI DAM OF NIGER STATE

The evaluation to comparatively determine the efficiency of a traditional and modified Malian traps in capture fishery was conducted in Tagwai Dam, Niger State to ascertain the productivity of the dam and also find out the possibility of adapting the Modified Malian trap by fisherfolk as one of the conservation tools in fishery management. The outcome of the catches revealed that traditionalMalian trap caught 131 fishes, comprising of Sarotherodon galileus. Tilapia zillii, Clarias gariepinus, Oreochromis niloticus and Synodontis membraneceous. While modified semi-circular trap caught 58 fishes of same species and modified rectangular Malian traps also caught similar species excluding Hydrocynus forskalii. The species diversity index calculated for the traditional and modified Malian traps were 0.47 0.41 and 0.39 respectively. Based on the results, it was concluded that the traditional traps had higher catches than modified traps due to the smaller mesh size of the net used with no significant difference (P>0.05) between their biomass. Hence in terms of catch efficiency, the modified trap, proofed to have the potential in competing for species selectivity and biomass with its traditional counterpart and also efficient in trapping mostly large bodied size fish and allowed the escape of juvenile fishes. Modified Malian trap of this nature is recommended as one of the potential fishing gears in conserving aquatic resources.