President William Ruto recently brought fresh hopes to the Lake Victoria fisher folk when he gave out the government’s commitment to install modern fishing facilities worth millions of shillings long the lake.

During his successful tour of the Luo-Lake region counties, the President announced the state’s plans to build several fish landing kits and improve sanitation along the Lake, all the way from Muhuru and Aneko beaches in Migori County to Ngegu, Dunga and Osieko beaches in Homa bay, Kisumu and Siaya counties respectively.

The President electrified the urge of fishermen to redouble their efforts in fishing business by getting assurance that all the myriad problems that dogged their usual chores, one of them, lack of fish storage facilities, would soon come to an end.

For many years, lack of proper storage facilities and modern fishing techniques had become the single most problems blocking fishermen in the region from penetrating the international markets.

Others have been the current big shortage in
fish stock in Lake Victoria, increased arrests and harassment of Kenyan fishermen by authorities from Uganda and Tanzania over alleged tress pass offenses and, the intensive exploitation by middle men.

Lack of modern fishing techniques for post-harvests and use of illegal fishing gears have resulted in a remarkable decline in fish quality and production from the fresh water Lake.

In Migori County alone, fishermen from the Lake’s Muhuru, Aneko, Sori and Migingo beaches have always cried about the stringent consumer requirements by the European Union (EU) on the quality of fish extracted from the Lake.

The EU has in past years slapped a ban to Kenyan fish to access its markets on reports that the product from the country lagged far below the recommended standards

‘Requirements for high quality fish at both local and world markets and, limited access to storage facilities are locking out most fishermen from venturing into large scale fishing business,’ said a beach management unit (BMU) official, Mr. Willis
Okello.

Speaking by phone from Muhuru bay, Mr. Okello said the assurance by the National Government to install high-tech cold rooms along the beaches to help them preserve their daily fish catch would boost their efforts to export quality fish to the international market.

Improved road infrastructure to all the Lake beaches, as also promised by the Kenya Kwanza Government, would also open up fishing business in the region, said Mr. Okello

President Ruto announced an elaborate road construction from Mbita to Sori to Magunga and to Muhuru Bay, a ring road connecting the Lake shores to Migori town and to Nairobi, in a move to open up accessibility from the Lake region.

Over and above, Okelo now wants the National and County governments to seriously provide cleaning facilities to help improve sanitation on all the beaches to meet the EU standards.

But speaking from the area early this week, the group of fishermen said despite the government’s efforts to help the area meet the EU health standards, there are s
till gray areas that need to be corrected.

‘The problem of irresponsible open defecation is still going to affect the fish quality if not addressed soon. Lack of good toilets within the lake beaches is leading to massive pollution of the lake thereby,’ said Mr. John Owiyo, another BMU official from Migingo Island.

Mr. Owiyo also claimed the local fishermen are earning very little from their business as a result of unscrupulous middlemen who take advantage of the high perishability of their fish catch.

‘The middlemen, mainly of the Somali Origin, usually wait until very late in the afternoon when they come with their refrigerated trucks to buy our fish at throw away prices,’ he said.

The fisher communities also want the Kenya government to stop the Tanzania and Uganda authorities from arresting and snatching from them their fish catch and fishing gears worth millions of shillings every day on flimsy accusations of trespass into foreign waters.

The fishermen said fishing activities remains undisputed their
economic backbone and should be supported at all costs to thrive by the two levels of governments.

Last year Migori County produced fish worth over a one billion despite the numerous hurdles facing this sector.

Source: Kenya News Agency