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Single East Africa Fishing Policy Coming
New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
26 September 2007
Posted to the web 27 September 2007
By Reuben Olita
Kampala
THE East African Community (EAC) council of ministers is to draft a policy to
guide fishing on Lake Victoria. The policy, said Kenya's East African affairs
minister, John Koech, would be ratified during the next Heads of State
summit.
Koech yesterday said over-fishing in Lake Victoria had resulted into the
depletion of the fish stock and a hike in prices.
Saturday Vision recently reported that fish was becoming scarce in Kampala
and neighbouring districts.
It reported that in Kampala and the districts surrounding Lake Victoria,
smoked and mature Nile Perch had disappeared with only immature ones
available on the market. Catching immature fish is illegal. Similar concerns
have been registered in Kenya.
Koech promised to champion the cause for a single fishing policy and also
save the fish species threatened with extinction.
"Once the policy comes into force, it will direct fishermen on what type and
size of fish to harvest and what type of nets to use."
Lack of set standards, noted Koech, had led to arbitrary arrests of fishermen
accused of crossing into waters of other countries. With the single policy
such arrests would become history.
He said a demand by some people that the countries brand their fish in order
to catch transgressors was untenable. He also rejected calls for mapping the
lake.
In Kenya, the western part is the hardest hit. The business community there
has been relying on supply from Malaba-Uganda.
Kenyan businessmen prefer to buy fish from Uganda at Ksh30 (sh750) compared
to Kisumu in Kenya,where they pay Ksh60 (sh1,500).
The Uganda water minister, Maria Mutagamba, attributed the fish depletion to
pollution from industries and use of poison to catch fish. |
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