• About 150 fishermen are licensed.
• Illegal fishermen continue to invade the lake, hence jeopardising fish production.
Image: George Murage
The Department of Fisheries and fishermen have recovered more than 10 tonnes of abandoned nets in Lake Naivasha during a major cleanup exercise around the water body.
Such nets have been blamed for the dwindling fish production in the lake. According to Naivasha subcounty fisheries officer Nicholas Kagundu, illegal fishermen were responsible for abandoning the nets in the lake, leading to mass deaths of fish.
“We have partnered with the beach management units to clean up the dead nets around the lake which have ended up killing fish and affecting production,” he told the press.
Kagundu said the county had stepped up patrols around the lake, with a view to ending seining (fishing around the shores), which has been on the the increase.
He noted that the Covid-19 crisis has hurt the lake, with tens of workers who lost their jobs turning to illegal fishing to eke a living. About 150 fishermen are licensed. The rest operate illegally.
“As the number of illegal fishermen in the lake rises, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of abandoned nets and hence the ongoing exercise,” he said.
The use of undersize nets and seining pose a major threat to the tilapia species, which is the most popular among fish lovers, Kagundu said.
The county is currently working with others arms of the government in patrolling the lake to keep away illegal fishermen.
“Plans are underway to send the Kenya Coast Guard Services to this lake and this will ease the current burden of patrolling this massive water body,” he said.
Fishermen network chairman Paul Olang' expressed concern that the lake had been taken over by criminal gangs "who are fishing at will".
He blamed this for a surge in hippo attacks, which have claimed 10 lives.
“Spot fishing and seining, which are illegal fishing methods, have become the order of the day in the lake and it's time the county acted on this,” Olang' said.
Fisherman Edward Jinole said hyacinth has hampered their operations as it continues to spread at an alarming rate.
“The weed has destroyed hundreds of our nets as it moves from one beach to the other, leaving us incurring huge losses,” he said.
Edited by F'Orieny