Water hyacinth: Come to the aid of Kasese fishermen

Yesterday, Monitor published a story detailing the plight of fishermen in the Kazinga Channel brought about by water hyacinth.

The channel, spanning 32kms, connects lakes George and Edward in southwestern Uganda.

Fishermen first noticed the presence of water hyacinth in 2021, but not much was done to contain it, with officials saying the weed now covers about 2kms of the 32km stretch.

After officially being recognised in Uganda on Lake Kyoga in May 1988, water hyacinth was reported in Lake Victoria a year later. Since then, the invasive plant has caused ecological, environmental and economic damage to the lakes in Uganda.

In the early 2000s, it became a national emergency after masses of water hyacinth invaded areas near the Owen Falls Dam in Jinja District. Though it was dealt with after a concerted effort by both government and locals, the presence of water hyacinth on Uganda’s lakes has become a recurring problem.

Fishermen we talked to at Katunguru Fishing Site say the presence of the weed has caused extensive damage to their fishing gear, particularly nets and hooks. This has made their business non-profitable because they spend a lot of money buying fishing gear.

Mr Wilson Kizza Nzaghale, the Lake Katwe Sub-county fisheries officer, says despite efforts to educate the community on the importance of uprooting the weed, the rate of multiplication renders containment efforts futile.

The Kasese District Principal Fisheries Officer, Mr Erisania Kithaghenda, says they have reached out to the Ministry of Water and Environment for assistance, but they are yet to receive a response.

We, therefore, urge those responsible at the ministry to treat this matter as an emergency before the weed gets out of hand. Though it was first reported in 2021, it was never treated seriously and has now become a big concern to the fishing communities along the channel.

When water hyacinth invading the dams in Jinja became a national emergency in the early 2000s, government deployed various methods to deal with the weed. Workers and machines were deployed to pull out the weeds, alongside the Neochetina weevil species that feeds on the water hyacinth. We appeal to government to us the same urgency for the people in the Kazinga Channel. 

Finally, the fishing communities in the channel should also mobilise themselves to periodically remove the weed. Even after the channel is cleaned up, the water hyacinth problem is not going to disappear overnight.

They should mobilise resources, by say charging money from every boat that lands on the shores, for the constant removal of water hyacinth.