African inland waters are economically and nutritionally vital to millions of people. For the development and management of the fisheries in these waters information is needed about their status. Potential yield estimates are important along with fisheries statistics (catch and effort data) and water body inventory data to evaluate the status of inland fisheries and their potential output. In many cases no reliable data on inland fish stocks and fisheries in Africa are available. As it is not feasible to conduct extensive stock assessment studies in all inland waters of Africa, models with limited data requirements have to be used to assess the fishery potential of those waters.
With the publication of the three volumes of the Source Book for the Inland Fisheries Resources of Africa (SIFRA) (Vanden Bossche and Bernacsek, 1990a,b, 1991) information on more than 900 inland waters of Africa became available. A database (DIFRA) using the Source Book as its main source has been developed which contains catch statistics and main morphometric and limnological characteristics of these waters (Crul, 1992). The data base includes information on African inland waters through 1989. Using these data an attempt was made to select new data sets of water bodies and to examine whether or not the existing models on African waters could be updated.
