Sustainable pond farming nets more fishermen as L Victoria stocks dwindle
Fish farming can transform the fortunes of many people particularly those frustrated by poor returns from the lake and those keen to diverse into other sources of income. The climate in Kisumu also favours aquaculture.. PHOTO/file
What you need to know:
A resident of Kiboswa village in Kisumu says that after acquiring skills on the basics of fish pond construction, fish breeding, water and soil testing quality, he bought a piece of land and built five ponds. He started with an initial capital of Sh100,000 which included the money he used to buy land.
Fishermen in Kisumu have traditionally relied on stock from Lake Victoria but with the declining species, they are now shifting to aquaculture.
Tired of coming from the lake empty handed, one of the fishermen, Francis Ayieko, felt it was time to diversify his source of livelihood.
Fish is a key component of diet in the region yet of late it has become expensive compared to other food.
“I realised that with the dwindling of fish stock, our livelihoods as fishermen were at risk, so I had to think outside the box,” says Mr Ayieko who owns 10 fish ponds.
The father of three and a resident of Nyalenda in Kisumu town says since he ventured into the business two years ago, he has never gone back to the lake.
“Fish farming is a lucrative business that earns profits within a period of six months as long as one is determined,” says Mr Ayieko. His initial capital investment of Sh10,000 earned him Sh80,000 in six months. It is far much better than going to the lake where anglers scramble for immature fish.
“With fish rearing, you cannot go hungry or end a day without a coin in your pocket so long as the fish in one pond has matured enough for sale,” Mr Ayieko says.
Fingerlings mature at different intervals making it easier for him to meet the clients’ demands.
“Delicious species like mudfish and nile perch mature faster and are on high demand in the lakeside town along with other species like tilapia,” says Mr Ayieko.
He adds that tilapia is omnivorous and eats bugs, plankton and plants making it environmentally friendly to rear.
Mr Ayieko says that the use of sub-standard gear and chemicals in the lake had hit output.
The deadly hyacinth weed has covered the lake thus inhibiting fishing and navigation, besides reducing the volume of water.
He says that fishing in the lake has become unbearable since the locals are fighting over the few resources left in the water body.
This has been made worse by fishermen using banned methods to harvest tiny fish that should be allowed to mature.
A government initiative to scale up fish production under the economic stimulus programme has, however, seen a number of ponds constructed countrywide.
As a result, many fishermen switched to this method as a safeguard measure while hoping that the government and other development partners would find a solution particularly for the water hyacinth menace.
The campaign has also got a major boost from institutions of higher learning which have introduced courses on aquaculture to enhance fish farming.
Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology (RIAT) in Kisumu is one such institution that teaches farmers how to rear fingerlings in the ponds.
According to Mr Musa Ogolla, a tutor at the Aquaculture training centre at RIAT, fish farming could be a key driver of the country’s economic growth in the realisation of vision 2030 if the economic stimulus programme is anything to go by.
Joseph Okoth, a fisherman and an alumni of RIAT says he gained skills to start the business with quick returns.
He says that fish farming can transform the fortunes of many people particularly those frustrated by poor returns from the lake and those keen to diverse into other sources of income. The climate in Kisumu also favours aquaculture.
“The weather here is hot and warm thus fish take between six to eight months to mature and between nine months or a year in the lowlands,” says Mr Okoth.
The resident of Kiboswa village in Kisumu says that after acquiring skills on the basics of fish pond construction, fish breeding, water and soil testing quality, he bought a piece of land and built five ponds. He started with an initial capital of Sh100,000 which included the money he used to buy land.
Mr Okoth says that clay soil is preferable because it retains a lot of water in the ponds. Each fish ponds requires about 50 kilogrammes of feed which he buys at Sh150 and can last up to two months. He rears mud fish popularly known as kamongo, nile perch also known as mbuta and tilapia.
The institution gives farmers fingerlings at a subsidized price and the farmers confess that the returns are high, especially for the nile perch and tilapia which the fish mongers buy at a higher price.
‘‘Fish only takes eight months to be ready for the market and this is an impressive return since each fish will fetch no less than Sh200,’’ quips Mr Okoth. He says the most popular variety is tilapia which has drastically declined in the lake.
He, however, hopes that fish farming will boost the species. Because of its economic value, most farmers are now opting to rear it in ponds.
His advice to the fishermen still relying on the lake is to embrace fish farming since it is a viable business for commercial and consumption besides mitigating, against over fishing in the lake.
