Uganda Fishermen Urged to Move from Capture Fisheries to Cage Culture

UGANDA - Fishermen on Lake Victoria, Uganda, are been encouraged by the government to start rearing fish in the lake, rather than relying on capture fisheries, which the government says are declining.

Monitor Uganda reports that at a meeting in Jinja, on Lake Victoria, government officials explained to fishermen about commercial cage production, which would enable them to grow fish in the lake instead of solely relying on capture catches.

“Capture fishery is declining. We are going to rear fish in the lake,” Dr Lucas Mwebaza Ndaula, a senior research officer at the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI), told the fishermen.

“You can form groups and pool resources to join this kind of farming. Within six to eight months, you will be getting money and after three seasons some of you can chose to become independent,” he added.

However fishermen are worried about the costs of this, and the chance that they may not be able to repay any loans taken.

31 May 2012