A survey carried out at various fish landing sites in the lake has revealed that some traders collude with leaders of Beach Management Units (BMUs). Notorious exit points includes; Murusagamba, Kabanga and Rusumo (Ngara district), Murongo (Karagwe district), Mutukula, Kanyigo, Kashenye and Kyaka in Misenyi district, Bugabo and Rubafu in Bukoba Rural district. Illegal fishing together with destruction of the environment have resulted into depletion of at least 400 fish species in the lake in the last four decades.
Kagera Regional Commissioner (RC), John Mongela said starting this week that all fishing activities in Lake Victoria and other smaller lakes had been suspended for an indefinite period to allow fish to multiply and mature.
Smaller lakes includes; Burigi, Rumanyika, Ikimba, Liko, Karenge, Mitoma, Rwakajunju, Kamakala, Rushwa, Melula and Katwe. According to fishing census conducted during 2012, the region had a total of 23,067 registered fishermen and 7,183 fishing boats.
Fish species found in Lake Victoria includes the famous; Nile Perch, Sardines, Sato and Furu. Authorities have pledged close monitoring of the fishing gear to avert intensification of the threat. Mongela reminded fishermen and the public to avoid using explosives and other un-recommended fishing methods which destroys the ecological balance of the lake. Speaking on the regional economic planning and challenges faced in the last five years which now required extra supervision, he gave an example of aggressive measures taken by the government to control the situation.
“Impounded fishing gear worth 611.4m/- have been destroyed. These includes 6,089 gill nets which are below six inches, 469 mono-filaments, 317 beach seines, dagaa nets below 8 millimetres and 192,274 metres of ropes used to tug boat sizes,” Mongela explained. He added, “Additional efforts are necessary. Change of attitude among fishermen and the general public cannot be overstated.
People must realise that the resources belong to them and once depleted they will suffer the economic consequences. This is a collective responsibility and each of us must play part.” He said modern fishing gear increased from 1,077 engine boats in 2005 to 1,942 in 2010. Also a total of 286 fishermen were trained on modern fishing techniques.
“I call upon each of you to remain vigilant and expose all those behind the illegal fishing including dynamite fishing. “All fishermen must be licensed and their vessels registered,” he said. Councils in Muleba, Bukoba, Ngara, Biharamulo, Kyerwa, Karagwe and Misenyi Districts should ensure that drainage systems are well preserved to allow water to flow smoothly.
Some of the notorious areas often affected by floods in Bukoba municipality includes; Kashai/Matopeni, Hamugembe/Omukigusha, Hamugembe/ Kashabo, Katatolwansi and some parts of Bunin area.
The Aquaculture Division Director under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Charles Mahika, said in an interview that he is optimistic that farmers in Kagera Region could double their income through aquaculture following a scientific report that a farmer could earn up to 20m/- in a year.
“Aquaculture is a very high value crop. Farmers in Kagera Region are encouraged to adopt cage pen based aquaculture because the region has a big potential. The region should start bleeding program by training farmers on best fish farming technology,” he said.
He advised farmers to contact the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI), for technical guidance on how to get cages. Currently, the production of marine fisheries make up only 13.71 per cent of the nation fish production.
The remaining production comes from fresh waters, covering a total area of 58,000 square kilometres. This includes three big lakes namely Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa, as well as major reservoirs, small water bodies, rivers and ponds. The annual sustainable yield for all marine and island waters is estimated to range from 400,000 -500,000 tons.
The average annual fish consumption in Tanzania is estimated at 38kg. Fish contributes 40 per cent of the total animal protein supply. By 1992 only a few regions were actively engaged in fish farming.
They include; Ruvuma (4,960 ponds), Mbeya (849 ), Iringa (753), Arusha (700) and Lindi (62). Reasons which contributed to decline of aquaculture development in Tanzania include the structural organization of the ministry, low priority given to aquaculture for funds and training and land rights. At the regional and district levels there is no specific budget for aquaculture activities.
Due to the relatively high construction costs of fish ponds and the inability to meet preconditions for loans from banks, most individual subsistence farmers who comprise 90 per cent of all farmers, cannot take the risk of starting commercial fish farms/ponds.
The advantage of aquaculture is that it can be implemented on land that has a low or zero opportunity cost, for example mangroves and swampy areas. According to Dr Mahika there are an estimated 20,000 fish ponds in Tanzania with annual produce of 5,000 metric tonnes.
With well-managed skills ponds could increase to 50,000 with yields increasing to 500,000 within a few years,” he said. While fish farming or aquaculture may appear highly technical to many qualified investors, it’s still a business at its core and from this perspective it’s really no different from any other alternative investment that may be under consideration.
Global aquaculture production of tilapia was reported at 2.9 million metric tons in 2010, nearly tripling the 1.0 million metric tons recorded in 2000. The average annual growth rate of the global tilapia farming industry for the trailing 10 year period of 2000-2010 has been an astounding 19%.
The Officer in-charge of the Kagera Region Surveillance Unit, Mr Appolinary Kyojo, said over 100,000 people in the region depend on fisheries activities for their livelihood. “Lake Victoria is under threat, and the very people this natural resource is supposed to serve are the ones threatening its existence. Irresponsible human activities are threatening the world’s second largest fresh water lake,” he remarked.
“Lake Victoria is under threat, and the very people this natural resource is supposed to serve are the ones threatening its existence. Irresponsible human activities are threatening the world’s second largest fresh water lake,” he remarked.
Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water body in Africa, providing a lifeline for more than 5,000,000 people living in rural communities on or near its shore. The Lake is their source of water for bathing, drinking and cooking, and its fish populations provide both protein and an income for families. Many of the fish, including members of the lake’s large cichlid population, are endemic found nowhere else on earth.
Over 30 million people in Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) could greatly improve their livelihoods if they utilize the abundant investment opportunities in the basin. Under the East African Co-operation Treaty, the Lake Victoria basin has been categorized as an economic growth zone. Available investment opportunities include agriculture and livestock, trade and commerce, fishing, mining, wildlife and tourism.
Others are hydro-power generation, infrastructure development, human resources development, industries, research and technology. Lake Victoria is the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by area, but new research shows it ran almost completely dry in a severe drought 16,000 years ago. Africa’s largest lake is locally known as Lweru or “The Eye of the Rhino.”
Westerners will be more familiar with the name Lake Victoria — given during the United Kingdom’s expeditions of the area. In terms of surface area, it is second in size only to North America’s Lake Superior.
In terms of its importance, Lake Victoria supports the water resource needs of many central African countries and feeds into the Nile River, which supplies freshwater to some of Africa’s most densely populated areas. Recent research, however, suggests that Lake Victoria, on at least three separate occasions in its 400,000-year history, could not be called a lake at all because of severe drought.
By taking core samples from Lake Victoria, as well as Lakes Tana in Ethiopia and Van in Turkey, researchers discovered that ancient Africa and southeast Asia suffered an intense drought period roughly 16,000 years ago.
This drought parched the region and emptied all of the sampled lakes, including Victoria. From the core samples, researchers were able to pin the refill date of Lake Victoria to around 14,000 years ago.
Based on these historical records, some researchers suspect it’s only a matter of time before such a drought happens again. There’s not yet a consensus on the cause of the droughts, but speculations range from a shift in the Inter tropical Convergence Zone to more recent theories that tropical rainfall was weakened across Africa and Asia.
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