**1. Introduction**

The Nile basin extends from 4° S to 31° N and includes ten African countries: Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (Fig. 1). The source of the Nile water is one of the upper branches of the Kagera River in Rwanda. The Kagera follows the boundary of Rwanda northward, and continues along the border of Tanzania before draining into Lake Kyoga between Lake Victoria and Lake Albert, the Nile rushes along its course for 483 km within rocky valleys and over rapids and cataracts. The section between the two lakes is called Lake Kyoga and is part of the Victorian Nile, which name is used for the river section till its confluence with the Blue Nile in Sudan. The Nile discharges from the northern end of Lake Albert and flows through northern Uganda to the Sudan border where it becomes the Bahr El-Jebel. At its conjunction with Bahr Al-Ghazal, the river becomes the White Nile. At Khartoum, the White Nile is joined by the Blue Nile.

The 1529 km long Blue Nile has its source in Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. From Khartoum the Nile flows 322 km north to its junction with the Atbara River. Downstream from its confluence with the Atbara River, the Nile traverses the Nubian Desert, and is marked by two profound bends in its course, the first north of Khartoum and the second near Aswan in the Egyptian territory. The Nile flows towards the Mediterranean Sea through the Nile delta that splits into the two main Nile delta branches, the Rosetta and Damietta branches. The Nile River flows generally north to the Mediterranean Sea for a distance of 5,584 km. From its remotest head-stream, the Ruvyronza River in Burundi, the river is 6,671 km long, and it has a drainage area of more than 2,590,000 km2 [1].

With a length of 6,695 km from source to Mediterranean outfall, the Nile River is the longest river in the world. The uniqueness of the Nile is not only related to morphometric features of its basin, but to other many facts. No other river traverses such a variety of landscapes, and such a spectrum of cultures and peoples as the Nile. No other river has historically had such

© 2014 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

a profound material effect upon those who dwell along its banks, representing the difference between plenty and famine, between life and death, for multitudes since the earliest stages of human history [2]. The course of the Nile flows from highland regions with abundant moisture

The Nile Fishes and Fisheries http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/57381 351

For Nile basin countries with no access to the coast for economic activities, the Nile River is their artery of life and economic sustenance. Its fertile sediments supply agriculture soil with necessary elements for plant growth, and the fish stock in its large natural and manmade lakes are crucial to the food and freshwater security of the Nile basin countries. Fish industry and fishing activities on the major water bodies of the Nile basin are not only a source of affordable animal protein, especially in poor countries, but also provide employment, income and export

The principal objective of the present review is to highlight the main freshwater fishes and the major fisheries of the Nile River basin. The ecological status of the Nile fisheries and their economic importance to populations living in the countries of the Nile basin are also reviewed. The main lakes and river systems of the Nile basin will be compared on the basis of their fish species, fisheries potentiality and economic importance to the countries that host them.

The lengthy course of the Nile River is interrupted by several important lakes. Some of them are natural, while others were engineered by dam constructions and artificial reservoirs projects. Within the Nile basin, there are five major natural lakes with a surface area totaling

permanent wetlands and seasonal flooding (the Sudd, Bahr Al-Ghazal, and Machar marshes). There are also five major reservoir dams (Aswan High Dam, Roseires, Khasham El-Girba, Sennar and Jebel Aulia) in the basin. Before discharging its water into the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile fills four coastal lakes within its Delta (Lake Mariut, Lake Edku, Lake Burullus and

 [2]. The share of the Nile basin area for each of the ten countries hosting the river may represent a major or minor fraction of the total area of the country (Table 1). However, the economic significance of the basin may be quite disproportionate to its area, such as it is for Kenya and

Nile waters are the mainstay for freshwater supply for agriculture irrigation, navigation, water for human use ("drinking, industrial, domestic uses"), hydroelectric power generation, and of

Fishes and fisheries of Lake Victoria and Lake Tana will be reported here, as natural examples of tropical large water bodies of the Nile basin. The combined surface area of these lakes is

course for exploitation of natural fish stocks and aquaculture fish farming projects.

**3. Fish and fisheries of tropical lakes (L. Victoria and L. Tana)**

(Victoria, Edward, Albert, Kyoga and Tana). These are vast areas of

to lowland plains with semi-arid to arid conditions [1].

earnings to the riparian communities.

**2. Major lakes of the Nile basin**

Lake Manzala) with a total area of 1100 km2

more than 100,000 km2

Tanzania [3].

**Figure 1.** The Nile River trajectory from source to outfall

a profound material effect upon those who dwell along its banks, representing the difference between plenty and famine, between life and death, for multitudes since the earliest stages of human history [2]. The course of the Nile flows from highland regions with abundant moisture to lowland plains with semi-arid to arid conditions [1].

For Nile basin countries with no access to the coast for economic activities, the Nile River is their artery of life and economic sustenance. Its fertile sediments supply agriculture soil with necessary elements for plant growth, and the fish stock in its large natural and manmade lakes are crucial to the food and freshwater security of the Nile basin countries. Fish industry and fishing activities on the major water bodies of the Nile basin are not only a source of affordable animal protein, especially in poor countries, but also provide employment, income and export earnings to the riparian communities.

The principal objective of the present review is to highlight the main freshwater fishes and the major fisheries of the Nile River basin. The ecological status of the Nile fisheries and their economic importance to populations living in the countries of the Nile basin are also reviewed. The main lakes and river systems of the Nile basin will be compared on the basis of their fish species, fisheries potentiality and economic importance to the countries that host them.
