Government moves to boost fish stock in face of extinction

Many families in West Nile depend on various fish species for their health diets, as a source of income and for food security.

Food and Agricultural Organization recommends that everyone eats at least 17 kilogrammes of fish per year because of its rich nutrition value.
However, there is growing concern that some fish species are getting extinct from lakes and rivers that surround the region due to overfishing and trapping of immature fish.
Last month, Pakwach District leaders expressed concern over the declining population of Alestes Baremose fish species, commonly known as “Angara”.

In a bid to find solutions to the growing problem, the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARO) at Abi Zardi in Arua, is helping farmers to establish fish ponds and training them to adopt best fish farming practices.
Recently, more than 30 farmers acquired skills and training on setting up fish ponds. The farmers were also trained on how to manage the fish ponds, selecting and breeding good quality fish, and marketing their products.

Over fishing
Over-fishing in the lakes and use of poor fishing gears has led to the decline of fish stock which has encouraged a sharp rise in the prices of fish especially Angara which is a delicacy in West Nile.
One Angara fish costs Shs30,000 up from Shs25,000.
Last month Mr Joseph Okwai, who has been fishing on Albert Nile for the last 15 years, said the Angara fish stocks have declined tremendously.

He revealed that he catches between three and 10 Angara fish daily unlike in the past when he would catch more than 30, adding that sometimes he ends up with nothing at all after spending a whole night in the lake.
The NARO specialist at Abi-Zardi, Mr Nasser Kasozi, during the training last week, said: “There is need for farmers to identify high quality feeds for the fish in the ponds and this will make them multiply faster within 8-12 months.”
He also advised farmers to check on the level of proteins in the feeds and monitor the temperature of the water as well as cut grass around the pond to avoid predators such as snakes.In an effort to protect and multiply the various fish species, NARO has demarcated part of River Nile for Cage Farming, and also started training some farmers on keeping Angara in fish ponds.

Production
As an alternative to conventional fish feeds, the farmers have been advised to plant soya beans and maize.
The fisheries department has also embarked on enhancing production of fish fingerlings in local hatcheries, a move intended to overturn the recent decline in local fish production. The Arua fisheries officer in charge of Aqua-culture, Mr Joseph Kitamarike, recently said the district was last month hit by drastic drop in local fish production despite fish farming being instrumental in supplementing fish supply.

THE DECLINE
According to Mr Kitamarike, 68 fish ponds totalling to about 17,014 square metres were hit by the drought after being restocked. This, he said, affected the production with a reduction of about 3.8 tons last financial year.
In 2015/16, the region produced about 11.2 tons of fish.
Statistics indicate that this year, tilapia fish accounted for about 1.3 tonnes while cat fish accounted for about 2.5 tons.