Effects of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cage aquaculture on water quality in the world’s largest tropical lake

Cage aquaculture in tropical lakes is an efficient means of generating fish protein to ensure food security and support livelihoods. However, it has been repeatedly criticized as injurious to lake ecosystems due to eutrophication and other problems, and therefore ill-advised. This study examined the impacts of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cage farming on water quality across spatial scales in the world’s largest tropical lake, Lake Victoria. The primary objectives were to determine if water quality patterns differed between cage and control stations along a background limnological gradient, and to identify the water quality variables that contributed most to these differences. We postulated that the spatial arrangement of sites in the lake would drive overarching patterns of water quality variation, while cage aquaculture would have additional impacts on these parameters across the spatial gradient. Water column samples were collected from both cage and control stations at four ..., , # Data from: Effects of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cage aquaculture on water quality in the world’s largest tropical lake

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0t5](10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0t5)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data for \"Effects of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cage aquaculture on water quality in the world’s largest tropical lake\" (Okechi et al., 2025).

The .xlsx file contains raw data on water quality parameters collected from the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria in March 2023 and March 2024.  Samples were collected in triplicate at 1m depth intervals.

### Files and variables

#### File: 2023\_2024\_water\_quality\_data.xlsx

**Description:** Water quality parameters

##### Variables

* depth_m: Depth (m)
* total_depth: The total depth of the site, in meters. Empty cells in this column refer to sampling periods when this data was not collected (2024).
* Secchi (m)
* Temp_c: Temeprature (Celsius)
* TN: Total nitrogen (ug/L)
* TP: Total phosphoru...,