Shortage of Nile Perch hits Jinja City as price doubles

Fishermen at Masese Landing Site in Walukuba-Masese Ward, Jinja City have decried the shortage of Nile Perch, saying it has driven most of them out of business.

Located about four kilometres from Jinja Town, Masese Landing Site is the main docking site for many fishing boats.

In an interview with Daily Monitor on Monday, the fishermen said they have endured scarcity of Nile Perch for about three months, which they believe was precipitated by a sudden mass death of fish on Lake Victoria early this year.

Mr Robert Mugoya, a fish monger, said he had been selling about 30kgs of Nile Perch daily but now sells only three kilogrammes, adding that he has resorted to [selling] Tilapia.

“Previously, between one and 3kgs of Nile Perch went for Shs8,000, but now they goes for Shs10,000; while more than 4kgs go for Shs11,000, up from Shs9,000,” Mr Mugoya said.

He added: “The price of Tilapia, on the other hand, has reduced from Shs10,000 to about Shs8,500 per kilogramme.”

According to Mr Mugoya, fish factories have taken advantage of the prevailing conditions to buy a kilogramme [of Nile Perch] at Shs17,000 and literally pushed them out of business.

“I am now selling Tilapia, but if I am lucky, I get 7kgs of undersized Nile Perch which are of no benefit to most of my loyal customers,” Mr Mugoya said.

Mr Mugoya’s immediate neighbour, only referred to as ‘Mulokole’, said she will return to [selling] Nile Perch when the conditions improve.

Mulokole, who used to sell at least 40kgs of Nile Perch on a daily basis, was found with about 30kgs of Tilapia.

Mr Patrick Namage, also a fisherman, said he hasn’t had good catches in the past two months, forcing the price to shoot up to as much as between Shs17,000 and Shs18,000 per kilo, up from Shs10,000 at most.

“It is mainly the fish factories who have been able to pay such a price, while the ordinary fishermen have resorted to selling Tilapia whose price has dropped from Shs10,000 to between Shs8,000 and Shs8,500 per kilogramme,” Mr Namage said.

He added: “Whenever there is a scarcity of Nile Perch, Tilapia is in abundance and vice versa; I have never seen a season when both species are simultaneously scarce.” 

A lady, who only identified herself as Maayi, and operates a food kiosk at the landing site, said: “Nile Perch has been scarce since several dead species washed up ashore.”

In February,  government revealed that an estimated 100 tonnes of fish, mainly Nile Perch, died between December 2020 and January 2021 at various landing sites around Lake Victoria .

Government, through the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), said the issue was caused by a drop in oxygen levels in Lake Victoria.

According to Nema, recent flooding and rising water levels caused large masses of weeds to be submerged which sunk into the lake bed. 

These weeds use up oxygen as they rot from within the lake hence a drop in the oxygen levels. 

They added that the strong winds around lake Victoria basin heightened lake overturn; a phenomenon that causes water from the bottom of the lake that is low in oxygen, to come up and mix with upper layers, where fish live; leading to a reduction in oxygen, hence the death of fish.

“Because of the scarcity, I am selling a piece of boiled Nile Perch at Shs2,500 and Shs3,000, up from Shs1,000. I have also reduced my daily purchase from five kilogrammes to two kilogrammes, although sometimes I fail to get them [two kilogrammes],” Maayi said.

When contacted, Ms Joyce Ikwaput Nyeko, the director of fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries (MAAIF), said: “The minister released a statement and I am not saying anything contrary to what she gave.”

In her statement issued on Friday last week, Ms Hellen Adoa, the State Minister for Fisheries, said from wide consultations, it had emerged that Nile Perch was impacted by a number of issues, including the mass death of the species which occurred between January and March.

Other issues, she added, include increased indiscriminate gutting of Nile Perch to remove the lucrative fish maw, leaving behind a carcass unfit for factory processing because of quality and safety standards.

“Increased smuggling of fish maw to Tanzania for fish maw extraction and increased trade of immature fish to the Democratic Republic of Congo, with some of it first being taken to Kenya, repackaged and passed through Uganda as fish in transit,” Ms Adoa’s statement adds.

Resolutions to solve issue

Ms Hellen Adoa, the State Minister for Fisheries, said government has made some resolutions that come into force effective October 1.

These include, among others, the directive that all small boats below 28 feet are to immediately leave the lake, all Nile Perch fishers must use gillnets of a maximum of three panels (78 meshes and 90 metres) and all fish maw leaving the landing site must be accompanied with a fish movement permit.

Also, all fish in transit must be checked at the border point by fisheries inspectors; while the Uganda Revenue Authority has been directed not to seal the containers before they are inspected.

“Failure to follow the above guidelines, the minister in-charge of fisheries will have no option but to close the lake for three months starting December 2021,” Ms Adoa warned.

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