Why Kenya’s fishing industry is sailing in rough waters

From Ras Kamboni in Lamu on the Kenya Somalia border to Shimoni, Kwale County, coast fishermen are crying foul.

There is little catch with fish resources getting depleted as trawlers wreak havoc within Kenya’s 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Estimates put Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing loses to Sh10 billion annually.

The situation is the same on the shores of Lake Victoria where fisher folk are never a happy lot, suffering a myriad of challenges, including complaints of unfair competition posed by fish imports from China.

With these cocktail of hurdles, Kenya’s highly touted huge potential of the fisheries sector under the blue economy is under threat.

While the 200 nautical miles cover an area of 230,000 square kilometres, inland waters occupy 10,700 square kilometres — more than 41 per cent of Kenya’s 582,644 land mass — with the country’s fish resources said to have a huge potential to turnaround the fortunes of East Africa’s largest economy.

However, data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KBS) reveals a sector that has been on the decline. According to the 2017 Economic Survey, the fisheries sub-sector registered a depressed performance for the second consecutive year, with total fish output dropping by 12.1 per cent from 146,300 in 2015 to 128,600 in 2016.

The total value of fish landed declined by 11.5 per cent from Sh20.9 billion in 2015 to Sh18.5 billion in 2016, according to the survey. This is against the potential for Kenya’s fresh water and marine fisheries to produce in excess of 350,000 tonnes of fish valued at over Sh90 billion.

The travails of the fishing industry is one of the items that will be in sharp focus at the Global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC), which will be held at the Kenya International Convention Centre from November 26 to 28.

Shipping and Maritime Affairs Principal Secretary Nancy Karigithu, said the conference is expected to re-inforce the need to incorporate blue economy in internal and external policies particularly in regard to exploitation of marine natural resources, renewable energy, maritime trade and security.

She said Kenya’s fisheries sector is of high strategic economic value in supporting livelihoods and contributing to food security. However, she said “the sector makes less than 1 per cent contribution to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), with fish production mostly dominated by freshwater sources like Lake Victoria as well as aquaculture production.”

“Some of the challenges have been low availability of funding from the financial sector to what is essentially a capital-intensive activity. This may be attributed to a general lack of understanding of the legal framework surrounding the financial instruments in the sector,” Ms Karigithu said, noting however that there are governance structures already in place to transform the sector.

Fisheries Principal Secretary Prof Micheni Ntiba is optimistic that Kenya’s fisheries potential is on the verge of being exploited.

“The blue economy conference comes when we have reached the climax in instituting landmark policies to revamp the sector. Even before the conference is held, we will have launched a number of initiatives,” he said.

The long awaited Coast Guard Services will be launched soon, he said, adding that his department has already begun recruiting at least 35 personnel to kick start operations of the service. The government has also acquired a Sh3 billion Patrol Vessel (Pv Doria), which is awaiting commissioning by the President.

The patrol vessel is capable of speed up to 35 knots (64.8 kilometres per hour), according to the Bangladeshi builders. It is operated by a crew of 25 and 10 fisheries inspectors. She also carries two search and rescue boats.

“According to the law, at least 30 per cent of fish caught on our waters should be left in the country to develop our sector and provide job opportunities in processing. Pv Doria will have fisheries and customs officers to enforce this rule,” Prof Ntiba told Shipping & Logistics in an exclusive phone interview.

A fish port would also be developed at Liwatoni jetty in Mombasa where foreign fishing vessels would be required to report, he added.

The PS said a Sh10 billion coastal government project, being implemented in collaboration with development partners would help fishermen exploit marine resources by empowering them to acquire appropriate gear and training. Already, the programme has started with registration of fishermen and traders across all the coastal counties in collaboration with the Beach Management Units (BMUs), he said.

But even as efforts to turn around the fortunes of fisheries shift into new gear, there have been concerns over bungled implementation of an aquaculture programme mooted in 2009 under the Kenya Economic Stimulus Program (ESP) in which fish farmers across the country were supplied with fingerlings. Some of the fish processing factories on which millions of shillings were spent, are currently wasting away.

In Meru County, a Sh58 million processing factory built at Kanyakine in 2011 is idle. Fish farmers who had started rearing fish gave up midway, rendering the factory as good as useless because there is no raw material.

The factory was supposed to produce sausages, samosas, fish fingers and smokies for value addition but these products are not being processed due to lack of fish and some equipment, said factory manager Mr Benjamin Mutwiri.

Prof Ntiba attributed failure of the aquaculture venture to poor implementation strategy, saying fish farmers were not adequately sensitised and properly involved. The sector, the PS added, is in some state of limbo after agriculture and fisheries were devolved to the counties. “We are revamping the project with a Sh14 billion fund and we want to work closely with the counties. Currently, we produce about 140,000 tonnes of fish each year, while the demand is well over 750,000 tonnes. In the next five years, we target a production of over 700,000 tonnes while in the long term, our target is over one million tonnes of fish annually,” he said.