The onset of rains has left silverfish (mukene) dealers and fishermen counting losses.

The dealers say the rains have caused their catch to reduce.

"There is no business as there is no sunshine to dry the silverfish, which is causing it to rot," Jane Naseyo, who hails from West Nile, says.

A fish dealer dries silverfish. Photo by Francis Emorut

She adds that silverfish dealers rely on the sunshine to dry the delicacy full of nutrients including zinc, iron and calcium.

According to the experts in meteorology, Ugandans should brace themselves as heavy rains are expected to continue to pound the country for the next three months.

The fish dealers, who have been undergoing training by the Germany International Cooperation (GiZ) for the last 14 months in fish handling and processing, made the revelations on March 18, 2023, during a field visit to find out how they were doing after the training.

A woman takes a nap besides her baby under the fish racks as other woman breastfeeds her twins. Photo by Francis Emorut

The dealers said because of the rains, their profits have started to plummet.

The skills learnt

John Wobuyi, a silverfish dealer, said about 2,200 fish dealers were trained in entrepreneurship skills how to add value to fish, access markets, maintain good hygiene, fish handling and processing.

He added that the fish dealers hit the ground running and started implementing the skills learnt in order to improve household income and fight poverty.

Fish dealers waiting for fish at Kiyindi landing site. Photo by Francis Emorut

Wobuyi said this has come to nought as they are not making profits as they used before the rains struck.

The fishermen are using pressure lamps to trap mukene, which they said is dangerous as paraffin can pour on the fish and this further causes more losses as there is no customer that will buy fish smelling paraffin.

When New Vision visited Kiyindi landing site in Buikwe district mukene was being dried on the grounds using nets and around the shores of Lake Victoria.

Men carrying sacks of silverfish at Kiyindi landing site. Photo by Francis Emorut

According to Godfrey Ssenyonga Kambugu, the chairperson of Association of Fishers and Lake Users of Uganda, fish is mostly harvested during the dry season, but now with the heavy rains, the fishermen's roles have been cut.

"The fish dealers no longer make profits during the rainy season and the most hit are silverfish traders who depend on sunshine to dry the mukene," Ssenyonga said.

Curtailing illegal fishing

GIZ project leader Adolf Gerstl said the training of the 2,200 fish dealers was aimed at reducing illegal fishing and empowering the fishing community to add value to the fish and earn more income for their households.

Pupils of Kiyindi Primary School watch activities at the landing site infront of a cracked wall. Photo by Francis Emorut

He said illegal fishing has contributed to the depletion of fish stock, which has also affected fish exports to Europe.

Rebecca Meene, who benefitted from the training, said she used to dry fish on the ground, but after training GIZ provided her group with fishing nets to catch and dry silverfish.

Trucks were parked at Kiyindi landing site waiting to load fish and transport them to Kampala, but to no avail as there is a shortage of fish.