The Busia government has introduced fish cage culture in Busia
in a bid to save Lake Victoria, whose fish
population is dwindling due to overfishing, poor fishing methods, pollution and climate change.
The project will
also go a long way in putting an end to arbitrary arrests of Kenyan fishermen,
who go to fish
on
the Ugandan side of the lake. It is supported by the
Finnish Government through the Programme for Agriculture and Livelihood in Western Communities.
Bukoma Beach in
Bunyala West ward, Budalang’i constituency, received 18 fish cages, each stocked with 2,000 fingerlings. The county water ambulance
was on hand to take dignitaries to
Munaka,
about 10km from Bukoma beach, where the cages are positioned.
Fisheries
director Timothy Odende said the county will introduce 60 more fish cages in other beaches
in Bunyala and Samia subcounties, which will be managed by
the Beach Management
Units chairmen.
He said the fish cage
project was introduced
to reduce
pressure on the lake.
“We shall have two
days
in a week where the fishermen
will
not interfere with the lake, to give it a breather.”
GOOD HARVEST
The
fish cages
will
increase fish stock
and help traders supply to the readymade market in Nairobi, which had long eluded them. Two
of the remaining
fish cages
will accommodate the tilapia fish from the 18
cages as they grow bigger.
The
first fish cage will be ready for harvesting after six months, with a single fish cage expected
to produce
at least
1,800 fish, which is equivalent to
720kg.
“If the farmers get
good harvest, they can raise
about
Sh216,000 from one cage,
and this will
translate
to about Sh3.9 million,” Odende said, adding that
fish
farmers
from other parts of the
county not bordering the lake
can also take part.
The county government has assured the fish cage farmers that it will
outsource
a firm that will offer technical management
services, with the BMUs providing security. For ownership and
sustainability
of the project, the BMUs will
contribute
towards the payment of
the caretakers’ fees.
The key objective of the fish cage farming project is improving the livelihoods of the fish farmers
by enabling them
to meet their
household needs,
as well as
other socio-economic
needs.
GEAR CONFISCATED
The project is therefore a big relief to Kenyan fishermen. For a long time, they have suffered a lot in the hands of Uganda marine officers, who confiscate their boats and fishing gears.
The officials have also been accused of compelling the fishermen to eat raw fish, or else they’ll be tortured and even killed and eventually thrown in Lake Victoria.
Beaches where fishermen have been victimised along Lake Victoria include Marenga, Mulukoba, Omena and Bukoma in Port Victoria, Budalang’i constituency, and Bumbe in Funyula constituency. Scores of fishermen dread venturing in the lake for fear of being ambushed by Uganda marine police.
Majority of the unlucky fishermen whose boats and fishing gears are confiscated are always fined heftily to the tune of Sh10,000 or else their boats will not be released until they pay the fine.
The harassment has been going on for a long time, despite the intervention of former Budalangi legislator and currently the Labour Party of Kenya leader Ababu Namwamba.
Ababu has been at the forefront in ensuring a peaceful and harmonious co-existence between the fishing communities from the two sister countries through dialogue with Ugandan authorities.
The stalemate had further been worsened by the current shortage of fish in the lake, which forced scores of fishermen to venture into the interior to cast their fishing nets and catch more fish.