Kenyans will wait longer to get rid of Chinese fish from their plates in the wake of continued decline in local catches.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics latest report showed that the fisheries sub-sector continued to register a decline in performance.
This is despite efforts made by the government to ensure optimal exploitation of fishery products.
KNBS states that the total value of fish landed, which has been down for three consecutive years, dropped from Sh24.5 billion in 2016 to Sh23.0 billion in 2017.
Nyanza, which borders Lake Victoria - Africa’s largest fresh water lake, has also seen a decline leading to fish imports from China to satisfy the domestic demand.
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"Over the last five years, fish from fresh water sources accounted for over 80 per cent of the total fish landed," KNBS' Economic Survey 2018 report states.
'Fish landed from marine sources contributed a relatively smaller share mainly due to inadequate facilities and technology to aid fishing in deep waters."
The report showed that the total quantity of fish landed at beaches declined from 147,000 tonnes in 2016 to 135,000 tonnes in 2017.
Fish from fresh water sources dropped from 123,000 tonnes in 2016 to 111,000 tonnes in 2017.
This has been attributed mainly to decline in catches from Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana, and aquaculture farms.
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Fish landed from Lake Victoria accounted for 68.5per cent of the total fish landed during the year.
However, the lake’s annual output dropped from 98,000 tonnes in 2016 to 92,000 tonnes in 2017.
The survey gave the encroachment of water hyacinth, coupled with destructive fishing practices and dwindling stocks of Nile Perch species as the reason for the decline.
Fish landed from Lake Turkana declined from 70,000 tonnes in 2016 to 4,000 tonnes in 2017.
This was on account of receding water levels coupled with improper fishing practices and poor fish handling.
The quantity of fish from aquaculture farming reduced from 15,000 metric tonnes in 2016 to 12,000 metric tonnes in 2017.
The decline was partly attributed to failure by farmers to re-stock fish ponds in 2017, citing high prices of inputs and drying up of ponds due to drought during the year under review.
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Total output from marine sources recorded a decline of 3.7 per cent from 24,000 tonnes in 2016 to 23,000 tonnes with marine fish accounting for 88.5 per cent.
Crustaceans and molluscs contributed only 3.0 and 8.5 per cent of marine sources, respectively, in 2017.
The value of fresh water fish dropped by 6.1 per cent from Sh 19.8 billion in 2016 to Sh 18.6 billion in the year under review.
"Similarly, the value of fish from marine sources decreased from Sh 3.4 billion in 2016 to Sh 3.3 billion in 2017," read the report.