Editing Nile perch (section)

==Invasive species==
Nile perch have been introduced to many other lakes in Africa, including Lake Victoria  <!-- (see [[#Lake Victoria introduction|below]]) --> and the artificial [[Lake Nasser]]. The [[IUCN|World Conservation Union]]'s Invasive Species Specialist Group considers ''L. niloticus'' one of the world's 100 worst invasive species.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=PRINGLE|first=ROBERT M.|date=2011|title=NILE PERCH|url=https://pringle.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/798/2020/10/2011_Pringle-Encyclopedia-Invasive-Spp.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pringle.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/798/2020/10/2011_Pringle-Encyclopedia-Invasive-Spp.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions|pages=1–5}}</ref>

The state of [[Queensland]] in Australia levies heavy fines on anyone found in possession of a living Nile perch, since it competes directly with the native [[barramundi]], which is similar and grows to {{convert|1.5|m|abbr=on}} long, while the Nile perch grows to {{convert|2.0|m|abbr=on}} long.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Society|first1=National Geographic|title=Invasive Species|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/resource-library-invasive-species/|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.nationalgeographic.org|language=en}}</ref>

The species is of great commercial importance as a food fish. The Nile perch is also popular with sport [[fishing|anglers]], as it attacks artificial [[fishing lure]]s, and it is also raised in [[aquaculture]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project - Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Lates_niloticus.htm|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref>

===Lake Victoria introduction===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
{{See also|Fishing on Lake Victoria}}
[[File:Lates niloticus 2.jpg|thumb|Nile perch can grow to {{convert|2|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|200|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415342/Nile-perch|title=Nile perch|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2011-06-27}}</ref>]]
The introduction of this species to Lake Victoria is one of the most cited examples of the negative effects alien species can have on ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Impact of an Invasive Species |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/impact-invasive-species |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=education.nationalgeographic.org |language=en}}</ref>

The Nile perch was [[introduced species|introduced]] to Lake Victoria in East Africa in the 1950s,<ref name=Pringle1>{{cite journal|last1=Pringle|first1=Robert M. |title=The origins of the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria |journal=BioScience |volume=55 |issue=9 |pages=780–787 |year=2005 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0780:TOOTNP]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=13720490 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Pringle2>{{Cite journal| issn = 0001-9720| volume = 75| issue = 4| pages = 510–538| last = Pringle| first = Robert M.| s2cid = 7566999| title = The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: local responses and adaptations| journal = Africa: Journal of the International African Institute| date = 2005| doi=10.3366/afr.2005.75.4.510| jstor=3556959}}</ref> and has since been fished commercially. In 2003, Nile perch sales to the EU reached 169 million euros. Sport-fishing in the region of Uganda and Tanzania provided additional income from tourism.

Its introduction was ecologically disruptive and is attributed with causing the extinction or near-[[extinction]] of several hundred native species, with some populations fluctuating with [[commercial fishing]] and the actual Nile perch stocks. The Nile perch initially fed on native cichlids, but with decreasing availability of this prey, it now consumes mainly small [[shrimp]] and [[minnow]]s.

The alteration of the native ecosystem had disruptive socioeconomic effects on local communities bordering the lake. Many local people have been displaced from their traditional occupations in the fishing trade and brought them into the cash economy, or before the establishment of export-oriented fisheries, turned them into [[economic refugee]]s<!-- (see for a critique on this view: Ben-Yami 1996, Beuving 2010)-->. At least initially, nets strong enough to hold adult Nile perch could not be manufactured locally and had to be imported for a high price.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/3/t0037e/T0037E04.htm |title= RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LAKE VICTORIA FISHERIES: THE NILE PERCH |website=fao.org |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

The introduction of Nile perch has also had additional ecological effects on shore. Native cichlids were traditionally sun-dried, but because Nile perch have a high fat content (higher than cichlids), they need to be smoked to avoid spoiling. This has led to an increased demand for firewood in a region already hard-hit by [[deforestation]], [[soil erosion]], and [[desertification]].

The [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-nominated documentary ''[[Darwin's Nightmare]]'' by [[Hubert Sauper]] (a French-Austrian-Belgian production, 2004) deals with the damage that has been caused by Nile perch introduction, including the import of weapons and ammunition in cargo planes from Europe, which are then used to export Nile perch, further exacerbating conflict and misery in the surrounding regions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Socio-economic effects of the evolution of Nile perch fisheries in Lake Victoria: a review|url=http://www.fao.org/3/T0037E/T0037E09.htm|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

Regardless of whether it is considered positive or negative,<ref>{{cite book |last=Ben-Yami |first=M. |year=1996 |chapter=Ecological and socioeconomic aspects of the expansion of Nile Perch in Lake Victoria |pages=95–110 |editor-last=Meyer |editor-first=R. M. |title=Fisheries Resource Utilization and Policy. Proc. World Fisheries Congress. Theme 2 |publisher=Oxford & IBH Publ.Co. |location=New Delhi |isbn=1-886106-28-2 |display-editors=etal}}</ref> the [[trophic web]] of Lake Victoria appears to have been drastically impoverished by the introduction of this novel near-[[top-level predator]]. While the ecosystem seems to be moving towards a new equilibrium, neither its former state nor the state of fisheries on Lake Victoria can ever easily be brought back.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pringle|first=M. Robert|date=2005|title=The Origins of the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria|journal=BioScience|volume=55|issue=9|pages=780–787|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0780:TOOTNP]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=13720490 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kitchell|first=F.James|date=1997|title=The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: Interactions Between Predation and Fisheries|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2269528|journal= Ecological Applications|volume=7|issue=2|pages=653–664|doi=10.1890/1051-0761(1997)007[0653:TNPILV]2.0.CO;2|jstor=2269528}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pringle|first=M.Robert|date=2005|title=The Nile Perch in Lake Victoria: Local Responses and Adaptations|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3556959|journal= Africa: Journal of the International African Institute|volume=75|issue=4|pages=510–538|doi=10.3366/afr.2005.75.4.510|jstor=3556959|s2cid=7566999}}</ref>
<!-- uncited Nile Perch have created dead zones of algae and have affected the living creatures in Lake Victoria.-->