Tourism drought drives Lake Baringo fishing to the edge

The fishing industry in Baringo County has been hit hard with traders in Kampi Samaki counting losses after their market which was mostly depending on tourists flocking Lake Baringo was crippled by the outbreak of coronavirus.

The situation also worsened after the government announced a lockdown in Nairobi in April, hampering ferrying of fish which was solely relying on public transport.

Gladys Koikoi, a fish trader said in the past, the business was thriving because of the thousands of tourists who used to flock Lake Baringo and the adjacent tourist attraction sites.

She said the local market is now unsustainable because of very low prices. This, she noted is not viable to the traders living adjacent to the lake who depend on it as their main source of livelihood.

“Before the outbreak of coronavirus, our business was booming courtesy of tourists who used to tour Lake Baringo, with a majority being school children and foreign tourists. There was no time you could miss tens of buses parked here, with the occupants wanting to have a taste of the fresh delicacy from the lake,” said Ms Koikoi.

“Things are now different because there are no tourists and locals buy the fish at very low prices and at small amounts compared to the market we used to get from tourists. The market has dwindled to an extent that the fish stay for three days ending up going stale.”

Baringo County director in charge of fisheries Morphael Okeyo, said the industry has been adversely affected by the pandemic.

“Most fishermen at Lake Baringo are old men with most of them shying away from the trade after cases of the virus were announced in the country,” said Mr Okeyo.

“Most people are also shying away from buying fish given the conditions under which they are processed and sold.”

According to the director, the harvests of fish at the lake have dropped significantly from April this year compared to the same month last year.

For instance, in April last year, the total harvest of fish was 13,531 kilos while in the same month this year they harvested just 8,719 kilos. In May last year, the total harvest was 13,867 kilos while this year it was 7, 362 kilos.

“The decrease of fish harvest in Lake Baringo started April this year,” said Mr Okeyo.

Esther Talaa, a trader at Kampi Samaki, said she was forced to ditch the business two months ago after it became unsustainable.

“I have been in this business for over 20 years now but the business is dwindling everyday due to lack of customers following the outbreak of Covid-19,” said Ms Talaa.

“I used to fetch more than Sh50,000 a month from the fish trade but it dropped to Sh5,000, forcing me to look for other alternatives to fend for my family. We used to be more than 30 traders doing the business but most of them have quit.”

Linda Safari said she used to collect more than Sh5,000 a day but she is now struggling to get Sh1,000.

“I also used to supply fish to major towns like Eldoret, Nakuru and Nairobi but due to the pandemic, most public service vehicles that we used to depend on for transportation grounded their services. The situation also worsened when a lockdown was effected in Nairobi, which was our main market,” said Ms Safari.

Among fish found in Lake Baringo include the Tilapia, African catfish, barbell and the lungfish.