Fishing boats worth Shs1b abandoned on L. Victoria

A number of boats of the recommended 20-feet length worth Shs1billion are rotting at various landing sites in Masaka District, the Daily Monitor has established.

 Some of the rotting boats are tied up at Kaziru, Namirembe, Ddimo, Lambu and Marembo landing sites.

According to Mr Fredrick Egesa, the Masaka District fisheries officer, the boats failed to compete with outlawed undersize canoes commonly known as pala.

“This shows how illegal fishing is affecting the sector with licensed boat owners being outcompeted by unscrupulous people who are using illegal boats, this is a serious problem we must swiftly tackle if we are to save the lake,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr Egesa revealed that 88 rotting boats are at the landing sites of Kaziru, Namirembe and Marembe.

He said although Masaka is authorised to have only 647 boats, more than 1,000 are currently operating on Lake Victoria.

“Our current statistics show that close to 68 percent of the boats we have are engaging in illegal fishing and this is the reason why we are recording dwindling fish stocks in the lake,” Mr Egesa added

The Daily Monitor has learnt that some fishermen have decided to voluntarily withdraw their boats because they can no longer catch enough fish to recover the operational costs.

Mr Richard Kimera, the chairperson of the Association of Fishers and Lake Users of Uganda (AFALU) in Greater Masaka, said he  had 48 boats but only four are currently operating .

“The costs incurred in running 48 boats were huge compared to what I was getting from the fish catch. So, I decided to withdraw many of them and I currently supplement my income with farming and other businesses,” he said.

He said he was surprised to learn that the government requires him to pay license arrears even for boats, which are no longer operational.

“I think this [charging license arrears] is unfair to the poor fishermen and we ask the government to reconsider this,” he said.

All fishers are supposed to register their boats every two years and also renew their licences annually. Both registration and licensing are intended to regulate fishing and avert depletion as a result of illegal fishing methods.

Each boat operating on Lake Victoria is supposed to pay a licence of Shs100,000 annually .

To get licensed  , a fisherman is  required to  provide Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), which is  obtained from any nearest Uganda Revenue Authority office (URA) office or

National Identification Cards for Nationals and passports for non-Ugandans.

Illegal fishing on Lake Victoria has reduced fish stocks, species such Tilapia, Nile perch and silver fish –something that has drastically affected the country’s export earnings from fish.

Mr Peter Ssenkungu, the Masaka District finance committee chairperson, said illegal fishing has cost the district a lot of revenue.

“When I was cross checking with the fisheries officer, he revealed that many fishermen, who are supposed to pay for a licence are defaulting, last year, it was the same case. What kind of revenue can be generated from 313 who have so far paid for the licence?” he wondered.

IMPORTANCE

 Over the last two decades, the fisheries sector has played an important social and economic role in Uganda as the second largest foreign exchange earner, contributing 2.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 12 per cent to agricultural GDP.