Saving Perch through the court of law

Musoma. Alarmed by the dwindling of Nile Perch population in Lake Victoria, caused mainly, by the use of illegal fishing gear, authorities in the Lake Zone regions are turning to the corridors of justice–the court—to curb the massive fishing of juvenile Perch.

 Today, court cases on illegal fishing in Lake Victoria are common features in Bukoba, Mwanza and Musoma towns.

A recent visit to the Bukoba Resident Magistrate’s Court in Kagera Region found two interesting cases concerning illegal fishing in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater fishery, covering an area of 68,000 square kilometers with a catchment area of 193,000 square kilometers.

In one of the cases, 42-year-old Collonelius Cleophace, a resident of Kibeta and 30-year-old Sajidu Masoud, a resident of Makibwa, were jointly charged with unlawful fishing of juvenile Nile perch measuring below 50cm long.

The law provides for the fishing of a Nile Perch measuring between 50cm and 85cm long. Those measuring below 50cm long are not allowed to be fished because they are considered immature and those measuring above 85cm long are also not allowed to be fished because they are parent stock.

According to the charge sheet seen by The Citizen, Cleophace and Masoud were on August 12, 2014, found in possession of 350 kilogrammes of immature Nile Perch on Makibwa Island in Muleba District, Kagera Region.

In another case, Manyerere Wambura alias Elisha, 35, a resident of Mkalyambwa in Muleba District, was charged with unlawful possession of monofilament nets which are outlawed to be used in fishing.

The charge sheet says Wambura was arrested on August 24, 2014, on Maiga Island after he was found with illegal possession of 20 pieces of monofilament nets. He is also charged with using an unlicensed fishing boat. And the list of such cases is long.

“Illegal fishing of the Nile Perch is done on a daily basis in the Kagera region side of Lake Victoria,” admits Mr Appolinary Kyojo, zonal fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance officer incharge of Kagera Region.

He says Kagera Region has 44 islands covering 12,000 square kilometers of the lake, adding that monitoring this area is an uphill task because when they   mount operations, illegal fishers alert each other using mobile phones. “For example, it takes eight hours to travel from Bukoba to Goziba Island using a patrol boat.”

“We are also facing challenges like lack of working facilities. But we are trying hard to fight illegal fishing,” says Mr Kyojo.

He adds: “Patrol work is very strenuous. We have two patrol boats in good order while one is defective. We need fuel to run these boats.”

For instance, he says, 1,343 kilogrammes of immature Nile Perch were seized in a special joint operation undertaken by the Fisheries Division and the Police force in Muleba District between August 18 and 25, this year.

“We also seized 16 boats used in illegal fishing, 10 boat engines, 780 gillnets, 38 beach seines and 1,327 monofilament nets,” says Mr Kyojo.

He says most of the seized illegal fishing gear, including boats and nine engines, were destroyed in the presence of Beach Management Units (BMUs) and local government leaders and the immature fish were distributed to people who were present at the scene.

BMUs bring together everyone involved in fisheries at a beach – boat owners, boat crew, traders, processors, boat builders and repairers, net repairers and others – to work with government and other stakeholders in managing fisheries resources and improving the livelihoods of the community members.

However, Mr Kyojo points an accusing finger to some of the BMUs, saying most of them are participating in the illegal fishing business.

He adds that political leaders who have invested in the fishing business on islands are also not cooperating when it comes to fighting illegal fishing.

Mr Kyojo says apart from doing harm to immature Nile Perch, illegal fishing is destroying the environment of the lake.

He says crime is also rising in the islands, giving an example that a total of 40 boat engines were stolen three months ago from the islands.

“The government should open police posts in these islands like what it has done on Goziba Island,” he suggests.

Mr Lameck Mongo, zonal fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance officer incharge of Mwanza Region, attributes Lake Victoria’s decline in Nile Perch stocks to changes in ecosystem contributed by pollution.

He showers praise to the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP), saying the project has helped to improve waste treatment by industries operating around the lake’s basin.

The project implemented by the East African Community (EAC) member countries of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi was intended to improve the management of the trans-boundary natural resources of the Lake Victoria Basin and to improve environmental management of targeted pollution hotspots and selected degraded sub-catchments for the benefit of communities who depend on the natural resources of the basin.

“Agriculture within the basin of the lake is also contributing a lot towards the pollution of the lake,” says Mr Mongo, adding that at one time water in the lake started to turn into green algae.

Mr Braison Meela, officer incharge for fisheries resource monitoring and protection in Mara Region, says his office is currently involved in addressing and combating fishing illegalities through patrols, sensitization meetings and awareness raising to fishery stakeholders particularly BMUs, and promoting fish farming as an alternative livelihood.

However, Mr Meela says resources devoted to fisheries management, enforcement and aquaculture development are more limited than the challenges facing the fisheries sector.

He adds that national and global demands for fish continues to increase, driven by factors such as growing populations and  increasing recognition of the health benefits for seafood.

Like Mr Mongo, Mr Meela warns that the fisheries sector is the most vulnerable to climate change.

Senior environmental management officers with the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) concur that Lake Victoria is indeed facing environmental degradation of varying degrees.

Ms Rose Sallema Mtui, NEMC senior environmental management officer, says illegal fishing, including the use of thiodan and monofilament nets, is doing harm to the environment of the lake.

Thiodan is an insecticide for the control of insect pests on cotton, oilseeds, vegetables and other crops.

“Chemicals released by industries within the Lake Victoria basin and agricultural activities, including the use of fertilizers are also polluting the lake,” says Ms Mtui flanked by NEMC acting director of environmental planning and research, Mr Jamal Baruti.

She says the LVEMP is doing a lot in curbing destructive fishing activities, adding that LVEMP and other environmental stakeholders are introducing other income generating activities aimed at diverting people from using too much resources of the lake.

“We are also doing a lot of conservation activities to lessen pressure on the lake,” she says, adding that farmers are encouraged to apply contour banks or terraces.

A NEMC brief policy on climate change and fisheries in Tanzania prepared with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says in recent years, water levels in Lake Victoria have receded causing drying up of wetlands which are the breeding sites for key fish species. The policy says the impacts of physical and biological changes brought about by climate change result in changes in the livelihoods of fishing communities.

“Fishing communities throughout the country are increasingly facing a decline in fish catches and thus the resulting food insecurity,” says the policy.