IGAD partners with Kenya,Ethiopia to promote sustainable fishing practices

TURKANA ,Kenya, June 9 – Plans are underway to ensure that Kenya fully capitalizes on its blue economy, with fishing identified as the next big frontier.

Fishing in the vast Lake Turkana has been identified as one of the most underutilized with the country only harvesting five metric tonnes of fish annually against a possible 35 tonnes.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is now set to partner with government agencies to support the fish economy under the Omo-Turkana basin fisheries co-management plan.

IGAD has already identified Kenya and Ethiopia as the two countries that will benefit from the initial project aimed at sustainable management and development of fisheries in alleviating poverty.

Poor fishing practices has been attributed to the lack of growth in the sector along Lake Turkana with government also blamed for not supporting local communities adequately.

“Lake Turkana has a potential of 35,000 metric tonnes but only five metric tonnes are achieved every year and one of the main reasons is lack of proper gear to access the deep sea,” said Ag. director of fisheries management and development, Rodrick Kundu.

Kundu said that the lack of investment had denied the locals the chance of capitalizing from the lake as the demand for fish products in the country continued to rise annually.

Under the fisheries co-management trans-boundary plan by IGAD, countries involved involved in the first phase  of the plan will be able to train local fishermen, share fishing techniques and build local economies.

“This project will be very critical to the small-scale fishermen as it would address the issues of food security, nutrition and source of revenue.”

Under the blue economy, the fisheries sector is expected to accelerate economic growth, income generation, nutrition, employment and export earnings.

IGAD head of mission Dr. Fatma Adan said that the five year programme also seeks to enhance the safety of women and vulnerable communities as demand for fish globally continues to rise.

“Under this programme we shall minimize conflict of resources and address movement of counterfeit goods in the name of fishing,” she said.

The programme also seeks to support sustainable utilization of Baro-Akobo-Sobat River Basin between Ethiopia and South Sudan and Lake Turkana Basin between Ethiopia and Kenya