Le lac Victoria (Afrique de l'Est) malade de la perche du Nil: Rŕealit́e, mythe ou mystification?

Abstract

While looking like a documentary, the film Darwin's Nightmare is, in fact, a tale and a fiction. The excellent reception reserved to this film mainly results on the shock photos, which point out the dramas undergone by the African populations. But the amalgam of all calamities (prostitution, Aids, malnutrition, war, etc.) attributed to Nile perch introduction is not credible. The ecological side is quite weak and provides false conclusions. For instance, it is not true to pretend that the introduction of the Nile Perch is the main cause of the lake's eutrophication. This phenomenon lasted since a long time (many years before the introduction of the predator) and is a result of human activities. The economic side is also very caricatural and it cannot obviously be resumed to the denunciation of the North exploiting the South. It wilfully ignores the consequences of the improved fishery on the purchasing power of the bordering human communities of the lake. The film also point out the malnutrition in the Mwanza district. That is a not an accepted fact around the lake. Lastly, the red wire of this film is the traffic of weapons. As we are unskilled in this field, it is impossible for us to check the reality of this traffic. But several counter-enquiries failed to prove that such traffic supports the transport of the fish fillets. © 2008 NSS Dialogues EDP Sciences.