EAC fisheries officials meet to save Nile Perch

By Pascal Kwesiga

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania fisheries experts are meeting in Entebbe to discuss a revised draft for the Nile Perch Fisheries Management Plan (NPFMP) for Lake Victoria.

The plan seeks to reduce the fishing of Nile Perch in Lake Victoria to rebuild the stocks.

It also contains a number of management proposals for the three countries that share the lake.

The two-day meeting at Central Inn in Entebbe is attended by officials from Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO), scientists, fisheries staff and operators, beach management unit officials, the civil society and fisheries NGOs in the region.

The outcome of the workshop will be critical to the long-term compliance with the provisions of the plan.

This comes after the ACP II fish project funded by the European Commission held a similar meeting with regional government officials in Kampala recently to devise ways of strengthening fisheries management.

During the meeting, the Uganda fisheries officials called for the transformation of the fisheries sub-sector into an authority with financial autonomy over funds generated by the fishing industry.

He stressed the urgency to establish a fisheries authority to collect and appropriate the money that is generated by the fishing industry.

The officials also asked the European Commission to extend the ACP II fish project to their respective countries to strengthen fisheries management.