The Government of Nigeria, assisted by the United Nations Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are engaged in a project whose main purpose is to assist in the comprehensive development of man-made lake resources through research and surveys, the results of which will be made available in all regions of Nigeria.
The project became operational on 12 August 1968 and, as part of the project operation, FAO assigned Mr. K.E. Stride from September 1973 to August 1974 with the following terms of reference: “Under the direction of the Project Manager and in collaboration with other project staff,
participates in the programme of fish finding and location of fishing grounds;
designs and tests the suitability of different fishing gears, methods and techniques;
trains fishermen and counterpart staff in boat handling operations and maintenance and in the use of improved fishing gears, methods and techniques;
carries out other related duties as assigned by the project manager.”
Kainji Lake was formed by the impoundment of the Niger River waters at the completion of the Kainji Dam in 1968. It is situated approximately 1 000 km upstream from the river mouth between 9° 30' N and 10° 35' N. At its highest level, the lake measures 136 km (85 miles) in length and 24 km (15 miles) in width.
There is an annual drawdown of approximately 10 m which exposes large areas, particularly along the eastern shore and in the centre of the main basin, reducing the area of the lake by some 20 percent.
The lake can be divided into three main sectors. The northern part, for about 40 km, is narrow and for most of its length has a more riverine character at low lake level. The middle sector contains the main basin representing about 70 percent of the total surface area and covers the submerged Foge Island which was mostly cleared of trees before inundation. At low water level large areas of Foge Island are exposed as sandbanks upon which migratory fishermen build temporary camps.
The southern sector of the lake is deeper and narrow with fairly steep stones terminating at the dam site where the greatest depth of 60 m is to be found.
