Kenya largely depends on capture fishing, and if you look at the statistics, a lot of the earnings from this sector come from inland fishing.
But now there is a shift, which is not a bad thing, to aquaculture (fish farming). Capture fishing appears to be slightly ignored.
Fishing remains the most important segment of the blue economy. But because of the many thousands of people that it supports, we have serious problems of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
We also have serious problems of water quality. Right now, if you're in the major water bodies, like Lake Victoria, you will see for yourself the kind of water that we have, because there is plenty of waste that is discharged directly into the water.
And then we also have decreasing fish quantities. But the government is mitigating this by supporting aquaculture.
Now, the question here is, how many of the fisherfolk are involved in aquaculture? Investing in aquaculture is very expensive.
Most of the people who now engage in cage fish farming in Lake Victoria are not local fisherfolk but foreigners.
Does the money directly benefit the fisherfolk? The answer is no. But is it a good thing for the government to upscale aquaculture? The answer is yes. And there's huge potential in aquaculture to grow this economy and to reduce the pressure on capture fishing.
But the government should engage in affirmative action by taking deliberate steps to promote aquaculture among the capture fishers. If the government succeeds in this, then the communities would own fish cages.
This will reduce pressure on capture fishing, increase fish production and raise incomes. The population that predominantly relies on fishing will be happier.
National chairman of Beach Management Units spoke to the Star
