The lobster fishing sector in Lamu county is on the road to recovery despite losing more than Sh70 million due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Much of the losses were recorded at the peak of Covid-19 infections in the country between March and August this year.
It is during the five-month period that the country witnessed travel bans on international flights whose objective was to curb further spread of the pandemic in the country.
Lamu’s major live lobster markets are in China, Korea and Japan, while Spain, Finland, Germany, and a larger part of Europe forms the market for frozen lobster.
The ban meant no lobsters could be exported to the countries for the five months.
Though the ban was lifted in August 1 this year, the damage had already been done and the sector had suffered losses that would be hard to recover from.
Lamu produces more than 2 tonnes of lobster every month, with a kilo fetching Sh7,000 on the international market.
Because of the travel ban, local markets were the only option for lobster fishermen, as they had to sell for as low as Sh800 for a kilo.
Fisheries officer Simon Komu said that lobster fishing in Lamu is dependent on the international markets to reap any meaningful profits.
He said that even after most restrictions were lifted, including the international travel ban, the sector was still taking time to recover.
Komu, however, expressed confidence that things would normalise before mid-2022.
“The pace is slow but we are slowly getting back to where the sector was before the pandemic and all those restrictions,” he said.
Lobster fishing alone fetches Lamu county revenues of up to Sh 170 million annually.
However, because of the pandemic, the sector only managed Sh 100 million in revenues this year, much of which was obtained from the local market.
“The Sh70 million loss was because the local markets fetch five times less than what we fetch on the global market for a kilo of lobster. The local demand is equally not as competitive as the international one that we are used to,” Komu said.
The slow pace of recovery has also been occasioned by the fact that most fish export companies had yet to comply with the new rules introduced in the wake of the pandemic.
Komu said the recovery pace of the lobster sector is currently at 50 per cent but gradually progressing.
Fishing is a major income earner for Lamu county, with more 6,000 families directly dependent on it as a source of livelihood.
There are just about 1,200 lobster divers in Lamu with key hubs being Kizingitini Island which is home to at least 800 lobster divers, Kiunga with 200 divers, and Lamu Island with 150, according to records from the fisheries office.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
