Lake Titicaca is South America's
largest lake by volume, holding 198 cubic miles of freshwater — more water than
Lake Erie, but just a fraction of Lake Michigan.
The lake rests on the border of Peru
and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains, and although the region is considered the
tropics, Titicaca's cold water sends a chill through the body upon touch.
The islands in Lake Titicaca may be mistaken for natural
ones, but rather are woven of totora reeds. The rafts are littered with houses
for the Aymara who live on the water and rely upon the lake's fish to survive.
But all of the karachi in the lake are considered threatened.
Explorers considered the lake unproductive since all of the fish species
were small. In 1935 Peruvian and
Bolivian officials met and decided that they should consider introducing
supplemental fish to the lake they share. They felt the karachi were not a
sufficient food source to sustain the local population.
The United States was summoned to
conduct a study of Titicaca, and M.C. James, the assistant chief of fish
culture for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, was assigned the task.
The first round of transplants —
lake trout fingerlings — arrived at the lake from North America in 1938. Compared
with the tiny karachi, trout were a substantial source of protein swimming
through the lake's waters.
In Lake Titicaca, the trout explosion transformed local
fishing practices. Rainbow trout have been the most successful of all North
American trout introduced to Lake Titicaca. They are now caught by hook,
farmed, sold in local markets and served in restaurants. However, many are worried that that the
traditional fishing culture will disappear as the trout decimate the karachi numbers.
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