To: “jaluo@jaluo.com”
By Agwanda Saye
Residents and fishermen along Kamin Oningo Beach situated off Ndori-Luanda Kotieno Roard within Rarieda Sub County in Siaya County have something to rejoice about courtesy of Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project’s efforts to uplift living standards along the Lake Victoria shores.
To the fishermen long gone are the days when they were used to be marooned in the lake, incur post fishing harvest losses, use of ordinary boats for fishing and as well they don’t use natural fishing gears.
The beach which is run by a management unit headed by Tobias Ochieng’ Katete are thankful to LVEMP 2 for having granted them finance to have a safety motorized boat, fence their beach and improve the livelihoods of the residents within the beaches.
According to Katie , they presently collect harvested fish on time courtesy of the motorized safety boat as well as help in rescue missions in times of distress among the member fishermen within the Lake.
“The motorized safety boat does not only collects the fish from the boats in deep seas but also helps in transportation of the sick along the beaches and the islands as well as rescuing marooned fishermen in the Lake” Katete added.
He adds that previously there were incidences of boat capsizing and killing both passengers and fisher folk as a result of delayed rescue something which is a past now.
He further says that the motorized motor boat is usually on stand by for twenty fours and is ready to help in case of any lake accidents regardless of whether the victims are members or not but of course at subsidized fee which is going for the boats’ operational costs.
The said boat is also used in monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries activities within the lake incase of any eventuality within the lake.
Katete adds that their objectives seems to have yielded fruits as fish yields have gone up by 50% as their statistics in November 2013 shows that they goat 2800 kg of Nile perch while in October the same year they could only harvest 2130kgs.
The fishermen further have something to cheer about as the Beach Management Unit has made it sure that they remit a certain percentage of their earnings to their savings as well as their safety is guaranteed within the lake as there is a mobile phone hotline’s number which they can use in any form of emergency.
“Our women and youths have not been left behind as we have youths sports and some small errands run by the youths and our women are contracted to ferrying the fish from the boats to our banda.
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