Maurice Alal, AfricaNews Reporter in Kisumu, Kenya
The Minister for Fisheries Development Amason Kingi has said the Fisheries Bill that was passed by the cabinet will be gazetted soon in a bid to enhance fishing activities across the country.
Kingi said the bill will be tabled before the house upon resuming next week urging Members of Parliament to pass it in a bid to improve fish production.
Speaking when handing over Nyandiwa Fish Landing site in Gwasi constituency of Homabay County yesterday, the minister said fishing is one of the most important economic activities in Nyanza region only second to sugarcane farming.
The construction of Nyandiwa fish project costed Ksh.24 million. It has a flaked ice making machine, cold storage and other fish handling facilities to reduce post-harvest loses along the beaches of LakeVictoria.
“Nyanza contributes over 85% of fish landed in the country,” he said adding that this was immense contribution to national food security,industrialization, employment and wealth creation.
Kingi further revealed that last year, a total of 129,553 metric tonnes of fish valued over Ksh.13 billion was landed. This translated to an increase of 17% compared to 2010 of this total catches. He further said that Homabay County contributed 64% as compared to other
Counties.
However, he said most fish landing sites are far away from processing factories hence post-harvest loses being a major challenge to fishers in the region saying the government in collaboration with European Union are funding six fishing landing site to the tune of about Ksh. 202.5mliion.
This, the minister said will improve the sites namely Nyandiwa, Luanda Kotieno, Wichlum, Sori Karungu and Mulukhoba in Western Kenya.
In addressing further post -harvest losses, Kingi said the government is constructing other four fish collection centers each costing Ksh.18million at Mainuga and Remba (Homabay) ,Nyangwina (Migori), Usenge (Siaya) Counties.
He however said there is a serious challenge facing Capture fisheries in the use of illegal fishing gears by fishers and warned them of being arrested.
Kingi also revealed that statistics indicates increase in the use of these illegal fishing gears and urging fishers to observe responsible fishing by using legal gear.
The minister also called upon the residents to embrace aquaculture saying Nyanza is endowed with enormous potential due to various water sources such as springs, lakes, wetlands, rivers, water reservoirs.
The region also has clay/ loamy soil conducive for fish pond construction with high temperatures for fast growth and year-round production as well as ready market for fish.
“Aquaculture has great potential to meet the growing demand for fish in region especially in the face of rapidly declining fish stocks in Lake Victoria,” says Kingi.
This he said will significantly contribute to food security, income generation, nutrition and health of the people and drive economic growth of the region.
Kingi said that the government had jumpstarted the aquaculture sub-sector by investing over Ksh.5.6 billion in the last three Financial Years under the Economic Stimulus Program (ESP).
He also said that currently Ministry of Fisheries Development is partnering with Germany and Israel to explore ways of making aquaculture the key income generation and food Security Avenue for smallholder farmers in the country.
The trilateral tilapia value chain program will run for a period of 2 years to the tune of Ksh.240 million to enhance sustainable ways of protecting Lake Victoria environment and eradicating poverty by creating alternative livelihoods for communities around the lake.
On security in the lake, the minister said the government had tendered for three patrol boats that will be manned by coast guards. One will be in Kisumu and the other in Lake Turkana with a heavily built machine that will patrol in the Indian Ocean to curb insecurity cases.
The Minister for Fisheries Development Amason Kingi has said the Fisheries Bill that was passed by the cabinet will be gazetted soon in a bid to enhance fishing activities across the country.
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