Save Nile Perch Specie Becomes a Mission Impossible?



By ADAM IHUCHA Much has been reported about the Nile perch in the past two decades, though largely in its favor as a source of multi-million-dollars earner and palatable food item.

But of late, this large, African native near-top level predator has been facing grave depletion, prompting the East African community to take action.

Way back in 2009, the EAC’s Council of Ministers launched a $1.8 million drive—dubbed—‘Operation Save the Nile Perch’ (OSNP) to recover the specie population, which depleted from 1.2 million tonnes in 2000s to a mere 3,000 tonnes at the moment.  

Under the OSNP, the three partner States — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — sharing the lake -- had committed themselves to contribute $600,000 each annually for the operation, targeting illegal fishing.

But, five years now, the EAC council of minister’s report indicates that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have been dragging their feet to disburse their annual fees, rendering the mission to become impossible.

“In November 2013, the Council re-iterated its directive to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to fulfill their pledges towards „OSNP program. However, no funding has been received” reads the just ended Council of Minister’s report.
Available records show that Kenya with a clean record, among the peers, had remitted $570,907 equivalent to 95 percent in the year 2010/11, Uganda paid $440,160 whereas Tanzania remitted just $185,013, rendering the crucial operation a non-starter.
Official from Tanzania who prefers anonymity says that the meager budget compared to the government priorities is the factor behind the failure to contribute.
“Don’t forget that Tanzania like any other partner state faces budget deficit so with that situation you can’t blame the government for failing to fulfill some program” the official explained.
As a consequence, illegal trade in undersized fish are reported to have continued at alarming proportion since there is little law enforcement to control illegal fishing on the lake.  

The August 2010 Frame survey conducted by LVFO around Lake Victoria’s beaches and funded by Lake Victoria Environmental Management Programme (LVEMP II) revealed that fish-breeding grounds have been greatly destroyed.

This has negatively affected fish species with the Nile Perch being the hardest hit. Use of illegal fishing gear like gillnets, monofilaments and beach seines were on the rise.

 There was a total of 169,747 gillnets, 2,116 monofilaments and 991 beach seines at various fish landing sites, which must be destroyed immediately to save Lake Victoria’s resources from extinction.

The Nile perch, or Lates niloticus, as it is known scientifically, is a large freshwater fish introduced in Lake Victoria in 1954 by the British government to increase the fish population. 

The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, before the introduction of fish processing plants in lake zone regions, Nile perch, or sangara as it is known among locals, was virtually valueless and was favoured mainly by ordinary families that could not afford more expensive fish like tilapia.

But between 1992 and 2004, the status of the Nile perch rose dramatically, becoming a delicacy of the elite in European countries, thanks to findings by scientists that the fish has valuable Omega-3 fatty acids that help to check heart problems and high blood pressure.

Today, nearly 22 years since the Nile perch was first exported from East African Lake, the situation is alarming following a sharp decline in stocks in Lake Victoria caused by, among other factors, overfishing.

Why depletion
As the demand for Nile perch soared in Europe, so did the number of boats and fishing nets on the lake. 

From fishermen to factory owners, everybody was in a rush to make a killing – and the government opened the door to what Nestory Kulinda, 61, a fisherman from Kagera region says that was “uncontrolled fishing”.

From beach seines to small-size fishing nets that catch immature fish, nobody cared – it was survival of the fittest.

Mr Kulinda says the problem started in 1995 – two years after the first fish-processing factory was opened in Mwanza – followed by more plants in Kagera and Mara regions.

“The fish processors started to buy Nile perch in bulk at very attractive prices. Fish agents built huge boats that could carry up to 20 tonnes of Nile perch. There were hundreds of these kinds of boats, which collected fish from small-scale fishermen.”

Mr Kulinda says at that time when he had 30 fishing boats, some of his colleagues had up to 80 boats, turning fishing into a free-for-all affair as thousands of fishermen scrambled for the rich pickings. 

He says that at the time, fishing of immature Nile perch was minimal because there were plenty of mature Nile perch weighing between three and 200 kilogrammes.

There was a time when Nile perch floated to the water’s surface and fishermen just picked them up. But that era is gone and fishermen have now turned to fishing immature Nile perch to survive.

Today, thousands of fishermen like Mr Kulinda have had their livelihoods and dreams ruined because of the sharp decline in Nile perch stocks in the lake. 

Fish that can be caught using legal nets are those measuring between 50cm and 85cm long while those measuring above 85cm are not harvested because they are considered parent stock. Fish weighing under a kilogramme are considered immature.

This scramble for Nile perch has created an economic as well as ecological disaster, according to some fisheries experts. Today, there are more fishing nets in the lake than fish.

Importance
Indeed, the Nile perch is of great commercial significance as evidenced by inland fisheries contribution of 2-12percent of the GDP in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, the majority of which derived from Lake Victoria.

The Lake provides fish for domestic and export markets. The value of the catch from Lake Victoria is around $350million at landing sites, with a further $250million generated as foreign exchange by the export of Nile perch, Lake Victoria Fishery Organisation data indicates. 

Lake fishes support the livelihoods of over 30million people in directly dependent households by providing employment and income and also provide high quantity food in the form of nutrients and animal protein for million of consumers in the region.

CONVERSATION

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