East Africa to have joint plan on lake

The three East African countries sharing Lake Victoria are set to establish a joint strategic plan on the use of the resource in December.

Fisheries Development minister Paul Otuoma said the plan would propose mechanisms of reducing pressure on the lake.

Dr Otuoma said that Kenya’s strategic plan was ready and was just waiting for Uganda and Tanzania to finalise their plans before they could be harmonised and implemented to ease pressure on fish in Lake Victoria.

“We are worried at the high rate of fishing activities in Lake Victoria and that is why we have decided to come up with strategies that will ensure that we ease pressure on the Lake in the three states that share Lake Victoria resources,” the minister said.

Closed shop

He was speaking at Luyemba Village in his Funyula constituency during the burial of Mr Clement Onyango.

He disclosed that about 11 fish industries have closed shop in the region while the remaining 24 were operating below their capacity due to dwindling fish in the lake caused by over fishing.

According to latest statistics from Lake Victoria fisheries organisation, there has been a 34 per cent drop in the population of the lake’s most valued fish species, the Nile perch.

Separately, the European union is set to build six landing sites at a cost of Sh120 million in Bunyala, Rarieda, Bondo and Suba to boost the capacity of fishermen in those areas.

Dr Otuoma said the tender for the construction of the landing sites had already been advertised and soon the contractors will move to various sites to start construction work.