[5] Adult Nile perch occupy all habitats of a lake with sufficient oxygen concentrations, while juveniles are restricted to shallow or nearshore environments.

The Nile perch is also popular with sport anglers, as it attacks artificial fishing lures, and it is also raised in aquaculture.

Its introduction was ecologically disruptive and is attributed with causing the extinction or near-extinction of several hundred native species, with some populations fluctuating with commercial fishing and the actual Nile perch stocks.

The Nile perch initially fed on native cichlids, but with decreasing availability of this prey, it now consumes mainly small shrimp and minnows.

Many local people have been displaced from their traditional occupations in the fishing trade and brought them into the cash economy, or before the establishment of export-oriented fisheries, turned them into economic refugees.

At least initially, nets strong enough to hold adult Nile perch could not be manufactured locally and had to be imported for a high price.

The Academy Award-nominated documentary Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper (a French-Austrian-Belgian production, 2004) deals with the damage that has been caused by Nile perch introduction, including the import of weapons and ammunition in cargo planes from Europe, which are then used to export Nile perch, further exacerbating conflict and misery in the surrounding regions.

[17] Regardless of whether it is considered positive or negative,[18] the trophic web of Lake Victoria appears to have been drastically impoverished by the introduction of this novel near-top-level predator.

Prey depletion is also a factor, as it decreases the size of the fish and makes it vulnerable to larger predators, such as crocodiles.