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Why do saline lakes such as Lake Nakuru and Lake Natron have limited fish life?

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East African mountains and lakes — East African lakes Mountains and lakes of East Africa.

Saline lakes such as Lake Nakuru and Lake Natron possess a severely limited fish life primarily due to their high salinity and alkaline chemical composition.12

In these environments, the water chemistry—characterized by high concentrations of dissolved salts and minerals—creates conditions that are inhospitable to most fish species. While some freshwater lakes in the East African lakes system support rich and varied fish populations, the strongly saline lakes of the Eastern Rift are distinguished by these extreme physicochemical attributes.312

Additionally, salinity directly influences the solubility of oxygen in water; as the concentration of dissolved salts increases, the amount of oxygen available to support aquatic life decreases. This reduction in dissolved oxygen, combined with the harsh ionic environment, restricts the biological diversity and abundance of fish in these specific lake systems.31