As per the information furnished by the scientists tilapia farming in Fiji islands may be feeding the larvae and juvenile fish of several native species of goby, fish that live in both fresh and salt water and begin their lives in island streams. In a study the authors states that “Many of the unique freshwater fishes of the Fiji Islands are being threatened by introduced tilapia and other forms of development in key water catchment basins.”
Dr. Jupiter, a co-author of the study and one of the investigators examining the effects of human activities on the native fauna. He told that conserving the native fishes of the islands will require a multi-faceted collaboration that protects not only the waterways of the islands, but the ecosystems that contain them.
To measure the impacts of tilapia and other human activities on native fish species in the Fiji Archipelago, researchers surveyed the fish species and other denizens of 20 river basins on the major islands of Vitu Levu, Vanua Levu, and Taveuni. It is found that the sites where tilapia were absent had more species of native species in comparison to the place where tilapia introduced.
In order to protect the native fish the study recommend, should include conserving forests around waterways and keeping the tilapia out. Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Marine Program, told that protecting marine and aquatic biodiversity takes more than managing isolated rivers or coral reefs. He added that a holistic conservation approach is needed, one that incorporates freshwater systems, the surrounding forest cover, coastal estuaries and seaward coral reefs.
