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Fishing gear including nets and boats under fire by the Fisheries Protection Unit.
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Fishermen operating on Lake Albert in Kikuube and Hoima district appealed to the Government to give them the legally acceptable gear as one way of discouraging the use of illegal methods.
Alfred Ongeyi, a fisherman at Kijangi landing site in Buseruka sub-county in Hoima, said some of his colleagues use the illegal gear because the legal one is too expensive for them.
He said once the Government the legally acceptable gear to the fishermen, no one will use the illegal ones.
"The legally acceptable gear costs about sh5m. We are requesting that if you impound the illegal fishing gear from me, give me the one which is acceptable and see if I will go back to illegal fishing. If you cannot give me the gear, then lend me money so that I buy the legal nets instead of pushing us to poverty," Ongeyi said.
Denis Odagagiu, a fisherman at Songa landing in Kyangwali sub-county in Kikuube district, said despite the army operations against illegal fishing on lake, they continue to buy the illegal gears because they have no alternative.
He asked the Government to give them the legal nets or sell them to them at subsidised prices in order to make them affordable.
The fishermen made these remarks during the sensitisation meeting for fishing communities about the acceptable methods of fishing. The meeting was organised by army fisheries protection unit at Kajangi landing site in Hoima on Tuesday.
Muhamud Oroma, a fisherman at Kijangi landing site, wondered how the illegal fishing gear is imported into a country like Uganda where they are not wanted.
" Impounding the illegal gear is not a solution because they end up in the hands of fishermen who suffer when they are confiscated. Let the Government block their importation," he said.
Maj. Frank Kanzira, the fisheries protection unit operations officer who chaired the meeting on the behalf of commanding officer, Lt Col Mercy Tukahirwa, told the fishermen that although the work of the unit is limited to operations against illegal fishing, they will submit their views to relevant authorities.
Maj. Kanzira directed all fishermen to stop using gear that nets young fish and Lake Victoria sardines (mukene).
He said despite such nets being banned across the country, some people still used them on Lake Albert.
Maj. Kanzira directed his officers to impound the nets and arrest whoever is found using them because they had depleted most lakes in the country of fish.
"This fishing gear catches mukene and even Nile perch plus the eggs. They are no longer being used on lakes Victoria and Kyoga. It is only being used on Lake Albert. So starting today, this fishing net should not go back to the lake. The water and those who will fail to adhere to the directive will be arrested," he said.
Fishermen oppose ban
Maj. Kanzira’s directive did not go down well with the fishermen, who said it was abrupt and asked for three months of transition.
Fisheries Protection Unit officers during a meeting with Fishermen in Ntoroko district recently.
David Baguma of Rwentale landing site in Hoima district noted with concern that Lake Albert is deep and not suitable for the new nets that are being proposed.
He also said they will lose business because the ban has come at a time when they had already paid district local governments for the licence to fish Lake Victoria sardines (mukene).
Baguma asked the various local governments to refund the money they paid for the licence to fish mukene.
However, the Kikuube district fisheries officer, John Kiburara, asked the fishermen to remain calm, saying the directive is temporary.
Kiburara said the fisheries ministry was making consultations and would soon come up with guideline on how to fish Lake Victoria sardines (mukene).
After the meeting, the army fisheries protection unit officers together with local leaders destroyed illegal fishing gear worth over sh265m which were impounded from different landing sites in Kikuube and Hoima. Data from Bank of Uganda indicates that in the year ending 2018, Uganda’s export earnings from fish were the highest the country has received in the last 20 years.
Uganda’s fisheries sector
The country exported fish worth $171m (sh649.2b), the highest revenue the country has ever earned from fish.
Due to immature fishing, fish maws (swim bladder) exports slackened over a three-year period (2020-2023); statistics from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) indicated last November.
While appearing before the Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries Committee on November 30, 2023, the URA commissioner for customs, Abel Kagumire, said the exports reduced although the price of fish maws went up.
“When we look at the exports of fish maws from Uganda, we have registered a progressive decline in both the quantity and value of fish maw exports over the years from 701,607 kilograms with a value of sh321.8b in the financial year 2019/20. Now we are having 305, 964 kilograms with a corresponding value of sh914.2b in the financial year 2022/23 up to June,” Kagumire revealed.
Immature fishing prompted President Museveni to deploy soldiers to fight illegal fishing on all Ugandan lakes.
