By Leo Odera Omolo.
It has been reported that a team of fisheries experts from Kenya and Uganda are set to join their counterpart ins from Tanzania in the Lake Victoria town of Mwanza in South-Western Tanzania later this month to chart the way forward regarding the management of water resources.
Among the issues that had been blamed for poor fish stocks in the Lake Victoria were fragmented laws by the three countries sharing the water body, which experts argued affected the overall output..
One case was that it is only Kenya, which has puts in place a four months ban to fishing aimed at allowing breeding and maturity..
The Mwanza meeting comes in the background of a ban last week slapped on the establishment of new fish processing factories around Lake Victoria.
The latest move come against the background of the reportedly dwindling fish stocks in the lake.
According to statistics recently released, Kenya harvested 111 tones of fish last year compared to 117 tones the previous year representing a shortfall of six tones.
The Deputy Director in charge of Fisheries Department in Western Kenya, Mr. Michael Obadha recently said during an interview in his Kisumu office that the scarcity of fish has already forced at least five fish processing factories to shut down. The closed factories, he added, have sent home their workers after declaring them redundant.
He defended the latest ban saying the Lake was already struggling to sustain few fish processing companies that remained operational, adding that there was no room for new entrants
“It is not logical to set up more factories yet the ones which are operational cannot even sustain work three times as week in full capacity,” Mr. Obadha told the DAILY NATION in another interview.
Fish processing in the region earn a combined income of Kshs 6 billion annually from exports of its highly valued Nile perch.
The freeze on the establishment of new fish processing industries is among a raft of measures that the government of Kenya has taken boost stocks in the water body.
Other measures geared towards protecting the much prized Nile Perch species include the restriction of fishing of Omena to two kilometers inside the lake.”This Mr.Obadha explained was meant to protect the breeding grounds which are mainly on shallow ends..
The deeper the fishermen go into the lake the lesser the chances are that they will catch young fish and interfere with the breeding grounds,” said the director.
Fishermen will also be restricted from using light lamination during their fishing expeditions, a move Mr. Obadha said was lights attract Omena{the smallest fish species in the lake].
Interestingly, although fish stocks have been dwindling over the recent years past, earning have, according to the statistics from the Ministry of Fisheries increased by Kshs 2.i billion.
This trend, Mr. Obadha explained was due to increased demand, which had pushed the prices up. Falling supply and over commercialization of fish are, however, now threatening to lock out those who have over the years depended on the sector for their livelihood.’.
Mr Obadha said that currently one kilogram of the Nile perch is fetching Kshs 250 with the average sizes offish standing at six kg. This was way above the reach of most households.
Lake Victoria Nile Perch has been on high demand, especially in European and Middle East countries markets where it fetches the highest sales figure.
END
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 03:19:19 -0700 [05:19:19 AM CDT]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: FISHERIES EXPERTS IN EAST AFRICA ARE SET FOR A CRUCIAL MEETING IN MWANZA TOWN TP CHART FOR THE WAY FORWARD IN THE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES.