Author(s):

Agumassie Tesfahun

Abstract: The investigations were carried out based on the total samples of 266 L. intermedius randomly collected from the fishermen’s catch from April through August, 2011. Of these 55.6% (n=148) were males and 44.4% (n=118) were females thus male to female sex ratio was 1:0.79 but not significant (χ², p>0.05). The peak spawning season of the L. intermedius was during the wet season (August). The smallest female fish with ripe gonads was 25.6 cm FL while the smallest male fish was 25.0 cm FL in the lake. The 50% maturity length (L₅₀) was 32.4 cm FL for females and 29.0 cm FL for males. Labeobarbus intermedius caught by fishermen about (61.66%) were matured. While (38.34%) were below sexual maturity (immature) and vulnerable to fishing gears before reaching sexual maturity. Therefore, mesh size of the fishing gears needs to be enlarged and avoid fishing during the spawning season for protecting juveniles, fingerlings and mega spawners for sustainable fish resource utilization in Lake Koka.

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