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Abstract
This paper present an assessment of fishing practices in Lekki lagoon between March, 2006 and February, 2008. Lagoon fishery plays an important role in the economy of the country and the livelihoods of the people living around the lagoons. Eight different types of fishing gears were identified. Gillnets were the most operated gears in the lagoon followed by long lines. The least operated were the boat seines. Higher number of gears (N=1027) was operated in 2006/2007 than (N=995) operated in 2007/2008. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) ranged between 3.2kg/ha/day with basket and bamboo traps to 47.1kg/ha/day with boat seine net. Total fish production in Lekki Lagoon by small scale capture fisheries in 2007 was estimated at 1041.01 metric tons or 4.21 metric tonnes per square kilometer per year or 42.1 kg per hectare per year. A total of 16,960 specimens made up of juveniles and adults caught with different fishing gears types in the Lekki lagoon, were identified and classified. They comprised of eighty - one species belonging to 14 orders, 40 families and 56 genera. Community based resource management and enhancement techniques are recommended in order to improve and protract the small scale fisheries in the lagoon.
Keywords: Lagoon fisheries, species composition, fishing gears, over- exploitation.,