High costs bar fishermen from Lake Kyoga

On a stretch on Namasale Road, between Alyecmeda Trading Centre and the junction to Kitwe Landing Site in Amolator District is the home of Mr Francis Okello.

He is among hundreds of residents of Alyecmeda parish, Agwingiri Sub-county, who rely on fishing as a livelihood.

Every morning, these fishermen head to their respective landing sites to collect and sell fish from Lake Kyoga.

In 2004, at 29, Mr Okello abandoned his meat business in Dokolo Town for his current occupation until May 2019 when government slapped a ban on commercial fishing at the lake over illegal fishing  methods.

These include using less than five-inch fishing nets for tilapia and less than seven-inch fishing nets for Nile Perch. They also entail fishing boats less than 20 feet, especially canoes.  

Following the ban,  Mr Okello says he relocated his family back to Dokolo to begin farming.

The Fisheries Protection Unit destroyed at least 137 canoes and more than 1,400 fishing nets from Kitwe Landing Site, where Mr Okello was registered.

So when government lifted the ban on July 27, 2020, only 11,000 boats have been cleared to operate, a decline from  23,000 before the restriction.

Back on the lake
Of the 142 fishermen who operate from the site, only Mr Okello and 32 others have resumed business.

“Many fishermen were kicked out of business after their equipment was destroyed. Previously,  we used canoes and other small boats that cost between Shs280,000 and Shs300,000, but these were banned. It is hard for one to afford Shs1.7m to buy standard boats,” he says.

“When the ban came, we were already running a savings group (VSLA) and that money helped me get a standard boat and a few nets,” he adds.

Mr Okello owns a motorised boat that earns him between Shs160,000 and Shs200,000 per day.

“The group still runs and every Saturday, I save Shs50,000 just like the rest of the members,”  he says.

Mr Patrick Okwir Ogang, the secretary of Kitwe Fishing Community Group, says one has to part with at least Shs8m to get all the gear to resume business.

He lost 12 fishing boats and 40 nets (considered to be substandard and illegal).
He says the situation worsened following the outbreak of Covid-19  in March last year.

“The disease messed up everyone, including potential fishermen who ploughed their capital into other businesses that collapsed before the ban was lifted,” Mr Okwir says.

He attributes his comeback to the Shs4.7m that he had accumulated with the saving group.

“I think the most important thing that helped us was the VSLA savings group. It was functioning even before the lake was closed.

Even after the closure, we continued to save. When government [lifted the ban], some of us had saved and it made it possible for us to acquire boats and nets,” he says.

The group, which started in 2019, saved Shs110m that year. But Mr Nelson Jumbero, the group chairman, said their savings sharply fell to Shs36m in 2020 due to the ban and the impact of the pandemic.

“When fishing resumed, we start lending the funds to ourselves (members) between Shs100,000 and Shs3m to enable us acquire the recommended gear. We hope to realise more than Shs130m this year,”  he says.

Although the site has a total of 24 standard boats, only six have engines. But Mr Jumbero says their target is to ensure that the rest of the boats secure engines in the next year through soft loans dispensed to members.

In Awelo Sub-county, only Nakasara, Odyedo and Akukuru landing sites in Akongomit Odyedo parishes out of the seven landing sites  in the area resumed fishing.

 Mr Nelson Alika, the assistant fisheries development officer in Awelo Sub-county, says many landing sites collapsed due to the ban on fishing and the negative effects of the Covid-19.

“People abandoned the sites and are returning slowly. We have encouraged and made the few groups work to form VSLA groups to promote savings and generate loanable income that members can use to support themselves, for example Akukuru Fishing Association,” Mr Alika says.

Ms Mary Acen, a boat owner and fish dealer at Bangladesh Landing Site, says despite the challenges, their daily fish harvests and revenue has grown.

“Although we had a slow start, the harvests are good with the bigger nets. We have caught only mature fish and since  a few fishermen are operating, the prices have risen. Fish is now weighed in kilogrammes, not stacked in buckets like in the past,” Ms Acen says.

In November last year,  she borrowed Shs7m, part of which she used to buy a standard boat, five nets, and a life jacket. “I now earn between Shs170,000 and Shs220,000 on a good day, and I have started to build a three-roomed home, besides paying school fees for my children,” Ms Acen says.

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