Districts to lease lakes to individuals
Mar 11, 2010
THE fisheries ministry is drafting a policy to allow districts to lease lakes. State minister Fred Mukisa disclosed that the leases will be for a specified period of time to investors.
By Chris Ahimbisibwe
THE fisheries ministry is drafting a policy to allow districts to lease lakes, state minister Fred Mukisa has disclosed.
Mukisa said the districts will lease the lakes for a specified period of time to investors. He clarified that the crater lakes would be privatised first.
He said the aim was to create a sense of ownership in the use and management of the lakes in order to increase fish production. Mukisa said because the public thinks the lakes belong to no one, the vital water bodies have been degraded and fish depleted.
Mukisa said the people, who will manage the lakes after paying for the leases, will look after the lakes and the fish and promote tourism.
He noted that once the lakes are privatised, they will encourage investors to carry out cage fish farming to increase fish stocks.
He said some people, including MPs, had shown interest in renting the lakes.
“These are national waters and the only way to make use of them is to come up with policies on how we can use them sustainably,†Mukisa said.
Mukisa was on Wednesday addressing Bushenyi district leaders who were discussing the proposal to suspend fishing on Lake George.
He later met fishermen at Kashaka fish landing site but abandoned the meeting when it started raining for fear of getting stuck on the poor roads.
All the same, his vehicle skidded off the Kyambura-Katerera stretch. He paid the residents sh10,000 to push the vehicle back to the road.
Mukisa said unless the rate of fish depletion is checked, countries like Rwanda would overtake Uganda in fish production.
“Rwanda is more serious. They come here and learn, duplicate things in their country and in two years to come, they will not need fish from Uganda.â€
He lamented that the ministry finds it difficult to enforce fishing guidelines because it is poorly funded. He said Uganda needed new methods of fish farming like cage fish farming, which will be introduced on Lake Victoria.
Mukisa said the high population and number on landing sites, coupled with poor fishing methods, had led to acute pollution and depletion of the lake’s resources. He singled out lakes George and Albert.
“We are going to identify people with businesses on the lakes. We no longer want redundant people on the lakes,†Mukisa said.
He announced that the ministry would issue logbooks and number plates to boats. “Whoever is found on waters without a number plate, logbook or an identification card, will be treated as a pirate.â€
At Kashaka fish landing site, the fishermen said they were willing to leave if the Government can resettle them and give them food for an agreed period.
He said the ministry failed to restock the crater lakes because they are poorly managed by the communities. The lakes lack breeding zones on top of being shallow, he said. “What you put there is what you get from there.â€
Mukisa also lamented that the introduction of Nile Perch had killed off many other fish species in the lakes.
Bushenyi district chairman Longino Ndyanabo said they had asked the President to help them restock the 52-odd crater lakes in Bunyaruguru.
“People have overtaken the usefulness of the lakes. Can we develop a policy of limiting the population on the lakes?†he asked.
Longino said the fish landing sites used to be no-settlement areas. “Permanent structures like schools and health centres have now been established there,†he noted.
He said although they have given people alternative sources of income under the National Agriculture and Advisory Services programme, it had instead aided them to stay at the landing sites.
He proposed a quarantine of six months on some lakes to rejuvenate their ecosystem. Longino asked the minister to revert the management of lakes to the districts by allowing them to selectively license the fishermen.
THE fisheries ministry is drafting a policy to allow districts to lease lakes, state minister Fred Mukisa has disclosed.
Mukisa said the districts will lease the lakes for a specified period of time to investors. He clarified that the crater lakes would be privatised first.
He said the aim was to create a sense of ownership in the use and management of the lakes in order to increase fish production. Mukisa said because the public thinks the lakes belong to no one, the vital water bodies have been degraded and fish depleted.
Mukisa said the people, who will manage the lakes after paying for the leases, will look after the lakes and the fish and promote tourism.
He noted that once the lakes are privatised, they will encourage investors to carry out cage fish farming to increase fish stocks.
He said some people, including MPs, had shown interest in renting the lakes.
“These are national waters and the only way to make use of them is to come up with policies on how we can use them sustainably,†Mukisa said.
Mukisa was on Wednesday addressing Bushenyi district leaders who were discussing the proposal to suspend fishing on Lake George.
He later met fishermen at Kashaka fish landing site but abandoned the meeting when it started raining for fear of getting stuck on the poor roads.
All the same, his vehicle skidded off the Kyambura-Katerera stretch. He paid the residents sh10,000 to push the vehicle back to the road.
Mukisa said unless the rate of fish depletion is checked, countries like Rwanda would overtake Uganda in fish production.
“Rwanda is more serious. They come here and learn, duplicate things in their country and in two years to come, they will not need fish from Uganda.â€
He lamented that the ministry finds it difficult to enforce fishing guidelines because it is poorly funded. He said Uganda needed new methods of fish farming like cage fish farming, which will be introduced on Lake Victoria.
Mukisa said the high population and number on landing sites, coupled with poor fishing methods, had led to acute pollution and depletion of the lake’s resources. He singled out lakes George and Albert.
“We are going to identify people with businesses on the lakes. We no longer want redundant people on the lakes,†Mukisa said.
He announced that the ministry would issue logbooks and number plates to boats. “Whoever is found on waters without a number plate, logbook or an identification card, will be treated as a pirate.â€
At Kashaka fish landing site, the fishermen said they were willing to leave if the Government can resettle them and give them food for an agreed period.
He said the ministry failed to restock the crater lakes because they are poorly managed by the communities. The lakes lack breeding zones on top of being shallow, he said. “What you put there is what you get from there.â€
Mukisa also lamented that the introduction of Nile Perch had killed off many other fish species in the lakes.
Bushenyi district chairman Longino Ndyanabo said they had asked the President to help them restock the 52-odd crater lakes in Bunyaruguru.
“People have overtaken the usefulness of the lakes. Can we develop a policy of limiting the population on the lakes?†he asked.
Longino said the fish landing sites used to be no-settlement areas. “Permanent structures like schools and health centres have now been established there,†he noted.
He said although they have given people alternative sources of income under the National Agriculture and Advisory Services programme, it had instead aided them to stay at the landing sites.
He proposed a quarantine of six months on some lakes to rejuvenate their ecosystem. Longino asked the minister to revert the management of lakes to the districts by allowing them to selectively license the fishermen.