Dwindling fortunes from fishing in Lamu have jolted the community to devise clever ways of sustainably managing the Indian Ocean. Illegal fishing gears and destruction of fish breeding places have hurt their income and forced a rethink.
With many valuable marine resources, such as mangroves, coral reefs and sea grasses, Pate Island is now faced with humongous challenges. The resources
provide an important source of livelihood and food security for residents.
Within the island is Faza, a small, sleepy fishing village, where people still lead a traditional way of life, with donkeys wandering around at will.
The destruction of the habitat has been so dire that the number of fish they catch has drastically reduced, threatening their income and livelihoods, as many still use the iconic dhow sailing boats for fishing.
Coral reefs act as a breeding ground for fish.
But as the area's population swells and residents use destructive fishing methods, such as beach and reef seining, the reefs risk getting depleted, hurting fish stocks.
This poses a major blow to the country, as it faces a shortage of 800,000 tonnes of fish. Kenya has the potential to produce more than one million tonnes but only manages 200,000 tonnes and imports to make up for the shortage.
"This place had a lot of resources but nowadays they are at risk, as people have adopted illegal fishing nets, leading to their overexploitation," Pate marine conservancy chairman Atwas Swabir said.
Reef rangers
Swabir said 90 per cent of the community depends on the ocean as their land.
Aware that they risk going to bed with an empty stomach, residents have decided to find sustainable ways to manage the ocean, even for future generations.
Reef rangers are now being trained in Pate island to collect data on coral reefs and fishing activities in the ocean.
Nature Conservancy Marine Project coordinator George Maina said a design of conservation that is supported by science and which prioritises residents' benefits.
“There has been too much fishing pressure compounded by the use of illegal fishing gears, damaging the very livelihood of the community,” he said.
Maina said the science has been made so simple such that the community appreciates it.
Rangers from Kiunga and Pate conservancies, who have also been fishermen before, stay under water for five hours, counting the species they find as well as the condition of the coral reef.
And while under the raging waters of the ocean, they record what they find into a special white plate, which is then transferred into a data sheet by one of the rangers strategically positioned in a nearby boat.
The information is then transferred into a database that in turn generates simple maps for the community to use in decision making.
One ranger is armed with a measuring tape to ensure the area they survey is 50 metres.
And since they come from the community, the rangers are highly respected. They monitor the illegal activities in the ocean before warning those involved, human wildlife conflict, poaching of turtles and logging of Mangroves.
Maina said the county cannot patrol the entire ocean as it does not have enough resources.
"Healthy mangroves and coral reefs benefit people and the wider marine ecosystem. We support design of conservation activities supported by science to ensure that local people benefits," he said.
Behavior changes
Maina said fishermen who have agreed to use sustainable means have a platform dubbed "fish to market", where quality is key.
He said the beach seine nets are not good for fishing as they dislodge and crushes corals.
Northern Range Trust technical advisor Juliet King said the rangers use their local knowledge as they already understand the behaviour of the ocean.
“The state of the coral reef is not good compared to the rest of the world. The reefs in Lamu have high algae
cover. With better protection and management, it can recover, but it takes up to 10 years,” she warned.
The Nature Conservancy is funding fishermen to train reef rangers, who will keep records of the reef and monitor illegal activities in their community conservancies.
King said the data is key to encouraging behaviour change.
Lamu Fisheries executive Grace Mburu said the county, as one of the marginalised ones, receives the lest allocation from the national government, and as such, it cannot to patrol the ocean.
“The biggest blow is the lack of infrastructure, such as roads and electricity,” she said, adding that 70 per cent of lobsters for local and export markets are from Lamu.
Mburu said cold storage facilities that have been a pipe dream for years were now becoming a reality with the support of partners.
Lamu Fisheries county director Kamalu Sharif said the county has 32 fisheries landing points that are registered.
“We have 12 fishermen assistants. We can't cover the whole area,” Sharif said, adding that they are getting 220,000 metric tonnes of fish per year worth Sh354 million.
He said the county is losing 24 per cent of the catch to post-harvest losses.
Sharif said with more investments and use of sustainable methods of fishing, the catch made could be ten fold.
He said 125 engines have been provided by the county government for fishermen.
Lapsset impact
Sharif said fishermen who are going to be affected by the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport project were supposed to be compensated before the project starts, something that has not been done.
"The affected persons were identified but have not been compensated, yet the project is ongoing," he said, adding that the project is likely to cost Sh1 billion in losses.
Sharif said coral reefs are set to be impacted by the project, yet the local fishermen have not received the equipment they were promised by national government.
The Lamu county government allocates Sh90 million to the sector every financial year, which Sharif said is a drop in the ocean.
Kassim Athman, 34, a father of three, said it takes between four and five hours for one to successfully get a catch as a result of overexploitation.
Athman, a lobster fisherman and ranger, said prices also depend on the presence of tourists.
"When we catch underage lobsters, we return them to the ocean for future generations," he said, adding that other fishermen with wayward behaviours will see the move as having set a good example.
Among the other activities which the rangers perform is ensuring that the turtles are not poached for their meat, especially in Rewa, which is a hot spot.
And depending on the situation of the fish within an area, the community in consultation, may decide to restrict fishing to give them time to increase.
Resident Ahmed Mohammed said the future generation is set to suffer as a result of the poor fishing methods, as well as wanton destruction of environment.
Fishermen under the fish-to-market project are provided with cooler boxes and other fishing gears.
Beneficiary Mohammed Kasim said fishermen under the project go to fish at around 3pm until early in the morning.
"It is challenging but it is what we have to do to earn a living," he said, as he embarked from the boat to give space for fish to be weighed.
Immediately they catch the fish, they remove blood to ensure that they do not go bad, before cutting off their heads.
The fish are then placed into cooler boxes that contain ice to preserve them.
Once they converge, fish are then weighed before being transport into Manda Bay, where they are filleted and packed. They are then placed into a freezer to ensure they are of high quality before hitting the market.
Another fisherman, Omar Mohammed, expressed his willingness to join the initiative, saying they no longer catch enough fish and even though they normally catch a few, accessing the market is a big problem.
"I would love to join the programme so that we access the market and also benefit from how to fish sustainably," he said.
Fuzz Dyer, whose premises is being used for piloting of the fish, said there is huge potential but the problem is to do with maintaining consistency.
"We have several hotels in Nairobi and lodges in upcountry that need quality fish. The demand is outstripping supply, especially as we move to festivities," he said.
Dyer said the county has been marginalised for too long, despite having a lot of potential.
The fishermen are paid Sh150 per kilogram of fish.
But when the fish has been filleted, it can fetch up to Sh1,200, where 50 per cent will go to the conservancy to support operations, while the other 50 per cent is retained as profit for the community, where residents decide the project to invest in.