FISHERIES (Page 193–195)
6.2.42. Great progress has been made in the fisheries since Independence resulting in increased fish production. Total fish landed in 1963 was about 19,700 tons valued at K£l.l million. This increased to 80,000 tons in 1982 and was valued at K£11 million.
6.2.43. Because of the very specialized nature of coastal and marine fishing and the low level of technology used, the amount of fish landed at the Coast increased very little - from 5,000 tons in 1962 to 6,000 tons in 1982. In contrast, there has been a rapid development in fish farming which is now capable of producing 550 tons per year.
6.2.44. Target level of fish production to be reached by 1988 will be 120,000 metric tons broken down as follows:
Lake Victoria, 50,000 tons; Marine Fisheries, 20,000 tons; Coastal Aquaculture, 6,000 tons; Lake Turkana, 15,000 tons; Lake Naivasha, 1,250 tons; Lake Batingo, 750 tons; other lakes, dams and rivers, 7,000 tons.
6.2.45. Activities to achieve these targets include the following programmes:
Emphasis will be given to fish farming as this contributes more to the improvement of the nutritional status of local communities, earns money to fish farmers and fits well in waterlogged soils and mangrove swamps. Shrimp farming will be intensified to earn more foreign exchange.
Specialized extension services of fishermen will be given to strengthen fishing and fish handling capabilities of small-scale fishermen.
Introduction of new fishing gear and improvement in transport facilities as steps to increase production of inland waters.
Restocking of Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana and Lake Naivasha. Planting trees and grass around Lake Baringo in order to curtail the siltation process.
Better exploitation of the ocean and lakes will be achieved by the intensive use of vessels belonging to the Kenya Fishing Industries and the use of appropriate boats and better fishing techniques. Boat making will be given more attention.
The establishment in Mombasa of a fish canning plant will be encouraged.
Encouragement will be given to the establishment of ice making plants at Mukue in North Coast, Shimoni, in South Coast, Kisumu and Homa Bay to provide ice for preservation of fish and fishery.
Formation of Fish Development Authority is planned to develop and exploit fish resources including processing, marketing and distribution of fish and fishery products.
6.2.46. The Fisheries Department is establishing fishing stations within the major fisheries to facilitate the smooth administration of fishing activities and provide the necessary extension services to fishermen.
6.2.47. Fisheries research has provided new, better yielding species along with new methods for fish propagation, control of fish diseases and development of appropriate fishing gear suitable for Kenya conditions. The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institutes will conduct research work in both inland and coastal areas aimed at maximizing on sustainable basis, fish production in the country. The Kisumu research station will deal with problems arising from freshwater fisheries while the Mombasa station will deal with problems of all research matters relating to the Marine Fisheries. The Kiganjo Station will supply trout fingerlings to coldwater fish farmers while Sagana Station will provide fingerlings to warm water fish farmers. Both Kiganjo and Sagana will conduct research aimed at improving fish farming techniques for both cold water and warm water fish. The Department will receive specialized personnel from the university and from abroad to cater for the professional staff requirements, while 800 staff members will be trained at the newly established Wildlife and Fisheries Training Institute at Naivasha.
by
N. Odero
Fisheries Department, Nairobi
1. INTRODUCTION
Although it is known that the Kenyan coastal waters are not particularly rich in fishery resources, there is potential for increasing fish production from these waters. One of the major courses of the limited resources is the width of the continental shelf which is known to be very narrow not extending beyond 50 miles at the widest point. The total fish production from the Kenya coast in 1982 was about 7,000 tonnes, but the provisional figures for 1983 indicate lower catches, approximately 5,000 tonnes. The production comprises demersal and pelagic fish, crustacea and miscellaneous products.
Most of the fish is landed by more than 12,000 artisanal fishermen using about 4,000 small fishing crafts. From the various surveys which have been conducted, it is estimated that the inshore waters of Kenya could yield as much as 20,000 tonnes of fish per year while the deep waters within the exclusive economic zone of 200 miles are capable of producing as much as 50,000 tonnes of fish per year.
The greatest fish production at the coast come from Lamu and Kwale districts, which are fairly remote and far removed from the main market centres. However, the 1981 and 1982 catches show more landings having been recorded in Mombasa; this may be purely due to the statistical collection system. Apart from the fish for local consumption the bulk of the catch is sold to licenced fish dealers from Mombasa who bring their own transportation and means of fish preservation. The fishermen in the remote fishing centres have been organised into cooperatives to facilitate marketing of the catch.
The Kenya Government has taken steps to improve the various fish landing facilities so that the fish for distant markets are preserved properly to reach the consumer in wholesome condition. Development programmes have been initiated with assistance from donor countries and agencies to further improve the landing facilities and preservation methods and also to exploit the resources in the adjacent deep waters.
2. FISH PRODUCTION
Marine fish production in Kenya has shown great fluctuations since 1970. The greatest production recorded so far has been 8,000 tonnes in one year. The total production in 1982 was about 7,116 tonnes worth about 50 million shillings. This production was distributed between the different fishing centres as follows; Lamu 1,596 tonnes; Tana River 34 tonnes; Kilifi which included Malindi 1,572 tonnes, Mombasa 2,917 tonnes; Kwale 997 tonnes. In 1981 the total production was 5,967 tonnes worth about 37 million shillings and the fish came from Lamu 1,491 tonnes; Tana River 76 tonnes; Kilifi 851 tonnes; Mombasa 2,664 tonnes; Kwale 885 tonnes.
The already compiled figures for 1983 indicate that the production may not exceed 5,000 tonnes. The total production for the 10 months of the year was 4,012 tonnes consisting of 2,256 tonnes of demersal fish, 793 tonnes of pelagic fish and 173 tonnes of crustacea. The production for the various years from 1978 were:
| 1978 | 4,600 | tonnes |
| 1979 | 4,700 | " |
| 1980 | 5,500 | " |
| 1981 | 5,967 | " |
| 1982 | 7,116 | " |
The great decrease in 1983 production may be due to the weather conditions at sea which was generally unfavourable for greater part of the year and many artisanal fishermen were unable to go out to sea for long periods. In the past the fish produced was merely recorded as demersal, pelagic, crustacea and miscellaneous and the bulk of the catch was landed from demersal resources. However, attempts are now being made to identify the various types of the fish in the catch. The figures already obtained indicate that the greatest landings are contributed by rabbitfish, about 600 tonnes per year, and the scavengers contributing about 700 tonnes, and about 300 to 400 tonnes per year of crustacea (lobsters, prawns and crabs).
3. FISH MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
The bulk of the fish landed along the Kenya coast is to a great extent consumed locally in the fishing villages by the fishermen and their families. The upcountry population is not familiar with and generally have no preference for marine fish. There has therefore been little urge in the part of the coastal fishermen to intensify their activities for increased production. The major fishing centres are located in Kwale and Lamu districts which are far removed from the main marketing centres with population concentration. For a long time the commercially viable fish catches have beeen sold through the several fish dealers who have established their own transportation and preservation facilities. During certain periods of the year particularly the rainy seasons, road communications to remote districts like Lamu are disrupted and the fishermen in these areas have no outlet for their surplus catch. During such periods fishing activities almost come to a standstill.
In order to assist the fishermen in the organisation of fish marketing and distribution, formation of fishermen's cooperatives have been encouraged. Such societies have been established in Lamu District (North Coast Fishermen's Cooperative Society) and at Vanga and Shimoni in the south. These organisations have ensured fair practices and reasonable returns to the fishermen for their fish landings.
The high value fish like crustacea (prawns and lobsters) and some pelagic fish like kingfish are transported by the fish dealers to the main market centres such as Mombasa, Malindi and Nairobi and are sold to the consumers at very high prices. In some of these cases the price difference from the fisherman to the consumer could be as high as 100%. Some of the valuable products as prawns, lobsters and the tuna are exported for overseas markets. In general the fish transported from the fishing villages to the distant markets form a very small proportion of the total fish landings at the coast.
4. RESOURCE SURVEYS AND POTENTIAL
Various surveys have been conducted along our coast to study the fish stocks and determine the potential yields from the available resources. Many interesting reports were written and a number of them were published in overseas journals not quite easily available to local scientists. Studies on tuna and deep sea resources have been conducted since 1961 while inshore areas have been investigated with respect to crustacea resources since 1969.
Further studies were conducted in these areas with the assistance of UNDP and FAO from 1974 to 1977. This was a regional survey covering the Western Indian Ocean and was done under the auspices of the Indian Ocean Programme of the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission, The results of this survey indicated moderate fishery potential for the Kenya waters giving the optimum inshore fishery production of about 20,000 tonnes per year. In parts of the report it was estimated that reasonably equipped shrimp trawlers should land as much as 3 to 4 tonnes of marketable crustacea per day.
In order to study the trawlable Kenya coastal waters more closely a further study was commissioned and executed with the assistance of FAO from 1979 to 1981. Preliminary results of this study have again indicated moderate possibilities for expansion of fish production from the inshore and near off-shore trawable grounds. The final results of this latest study should be released in the near future and will assist in the planning for the exploitation of the fishery resources within the accessible trawlable grounds.
The latest surveys have been conducted at our coast with assistance from the Norwegian Government through their agency NORAD, using the research vessel “Dr. Fridtjof Nansen”. The results of these surveys form the subject for discussions during this symposium and the results should give us some indications for future development planning.
We are grateful to the various countries including United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, Unites States of America and the international organisations such as FAO, UNESCO and UNDP for the assistance we have received in conducting fisheries surveys along our coast. The results of these surveys have greatly assisted us in making realistic plans for our fisheries development.
5. MARINE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT
One of the major constraints hindering inshore fisheries development is lack of fish preservation facilities, especially in the remote fishing centres. It is therefore planned to establish ice plants and cold storages in the main centres to be used by the artisanal fishermen. Such facilities will be built at Shimoni in the south and in Lamu in the north. From these plants ice will be provided to individual fishermen for preservation of the catch before marketing, as well as to the insulated cold storages to be built in the surrounding fishing villages.
It is also intended to assist the fishermen to increase their catches by introducing better designed fishing crafts. The fishermen will be helped to mechanize some of the fishing boats to enable them to get to the fishing grounds faster and also to land their catch within a shorter time.
To improve the fishing gears and methods encouragements and allowance are being given to introduce small trawlers to exploit the resources available in the identified trawlable grounds. This development is being approached cautiously in order to avoid conflicts with the large number of artisanal fishermen operating in the inshore areas. These developments in the inshore waters are expected to enable the fishermen to increase their production from 5,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year.
The deep sea fisheries development were initiated in 1967. However, they have been faced with various problems and the objectives have been difficult to realize. In the early stages of development, as much as 10,000 tonnes of tuna landed by foreign vessels within one year were processed through the modern facilities established. The Government is looking into ways to bring about meaningful development in the off-shore waters especially in the recently acquired Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 miles. It is known that reasonable fishery resources (tuna) exist in the deep sea and adjacent waters and that what is required is to organize the exploitation and proper processing of the fish to be landed. The target in these developments is to produce about 50,000 tonnes of fish per year.
In order to diversify coastal fisheries development, the Government has embarked on mariculture for production of highly valuable crustacea (prawns) and other fish in the brackish waters of the coast. In this development, idle tidal lands are being converted into fish farms from which predetermined quantity of highly valuable marine products are to be harvested regularly. The initial trials have been promising and have resulted in production rates of about one tonne of prawns per hectare per year. It is planned to extend the area of production under mariculture to cover all suitable tidal lands at the coast which should extend to about 10,000 hectares within the foreseeable future. This will increase fish production from the coast by between 6,000 to 10,000 tonnes per year.
by
S.O. Allela
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa
Mr. Chairman, when I was asked to present a paper on research and development, I felt a little discouraged. I realized the difficulties encountered by fisheries biologists when confronted by areas which often do not relate to actual research, as indeed many professional biologists, and I do not claim to be one, do invariably get so involved with biological aspects, such as stock assessment that they may forget, or as more often the case, ignore other important considerations. I am glad to note that participants in the Seminar are of different background, and I shall be excused by the professional biologists attending the Seminar if I steer away considerably from their usual approaches.
I am aware fish is one of the world's most valuable resources, and discussion on its status more often solicit a lot of interest. However this may be, it is still important that any aspect under discussion be defined; I shall not, however, attempt to define research and development as it is for this reason that we are all here. It is obvious though, that commercial fisheries operate between two poles. It is never viable without both suitable stock of fish and a fully functioning market for the products produced. In between there are many parameters of equal importance ranging from research, development and growth. The correct informations are needed at all three levels of operation.
It would appear that this paper will try to outline the nature of fishery development, the benefits consequential on such development, and some of the more important techniques and methods which promotes its development or growth. To me the provision of information related to or affecting growth constitute research and development enhanced by marketing of resultant products included. This consideration apart is not possible therefore within the scope of this paper to discuss in detail research and development and attendant problems which are to be overcome in the promotion and expansion of the fishing industry.
Be that as it may; it is essential to consider various parameters of fishery development. This is the nature of fishery development required, and my assumption here is that whatever definition I may wish to attach to fishery development in this context, it must nonetheless relate to the expansion of the total production in a given fishery, irrespective of other factors, leading to increased growth which in turn should provide essential benefits as the case may be. Such benefits may include provision of food. In a country such as Kenya, the provision of cheap protein food is still considered very important and fish can be considered as a cheap source of protein.
It is also true that fisheries resources, if well managed, are most valuable to the economy of a country. The apparent perpetual benefit of a managed fishery is further enhanced if the products can also be exported, in addition to providing direct and indirect employment, if for example the development of a particular fishery can also lead to development of other infrastructures. There are, of course, other benefits accruing from a developed fishery such as providing rescue and defence services. It is obvious that fishermen can play a major role in formal and ad hoc rescue services. It is now a common knowledge that during the second world war, experienced fishermen and the crafts they operated played an extensive and important role in the defence service of various nations. In a developing country such as Kenya this aspect of the role of fishermen is not always obvious, and the apparent subtle and significant difference in attitude between developing countries such as Kenya, has in a way kept away greater input into the fishing industry by developing countries.
In such countries, as already indicated, fishery development is regarded essentially as part of an effort to provide the much needed nutrition. Perhaps because of the changing pattern of defence requirements the attitude prevailing in the developing countries is the right one.
Somewhere in this paper mention is made of the interrelationship between research and development, the information needed and the utilization. Research into problems affecting the fishing industry starts with the basic characteristics of fishery resources in relation to development. More often fisheries research include the study of the existing fishery, and as such it concerns itself with the state of existing status of the industry. Information required therefore must be relevant to operations either in existence in that which is planned in so far as the known stock is concerned. In planning fishery development in this instance, it is important to have a fair knowledge on the fully exploited, the unexploited and partially exploited stocks. In all such cases opportunity for development may still exist, if information isalso available on such other parameters as the operational methods, which perhaps when modified can give raise to an increased productivity directly or by reduction in losses.
It is realised that for the essential informations referred to be made available, knowledge about certain characteristics of the stock must be made available. Such information may include:
Location, distribution, behaviour and abundance of resources and includes prediction of these characteristics.
Weather conditions.
Markets.
Technological matters.
Technological matters referred is most important in the case of hitherto unexploited fishery due to limitations of gears and crafts available. In this regard there is need for development of new fishing techniques, sometimes using newly developed fishing gears and vessels. Such are the types of information required on known stocks. However, in a completely new field, brought about sometimes as a result of the newly acquired Exclusive Economic Zone of two hundred nautical miles, other types of research activities may be called for. In instances such as these there is need for both exploratory and experimental fishing, conventional parameters being considered as well as a matter of routine.
There are definitely other aspects of research influencing development which are not touched on in this paper. It suffices though to reiterate one important point, and that no commercial fishery can thrive and survive in this competitive world without organized marketing outlets to ensure viable economic returns. Information therefore must be made available which will facilitate the disposal of the catches. Characteristics of marketing may therefore be onvased briefly. Some of the obstructions that can prevent development or improvement of existing or new fishery must therefore be looked into. Such essentials include:
Consumers preference, some consumers because of cultural tradition, habit, low income or other reasons may be reluctant to consume particular kinds of fish.
Market restrictions, ineffective distribution channels.
There may be ineffective processing methods.
There may be lack of port or harbour facilities.
There may be restricted access to capital markets which prevents individuals from being provided with enough finance.
There may be just lack of interest in fishery development by a government agency with the responsibility of encouraging such economic development.
Research and development can be seen therefore as a wholesome state of fishery development, which in final analysis is affected too by the attitude of management as elucidated when discussing some characteristics of marketing system as a tool for growth. In most developing countries information referred to above are either already available or being acquired through national and bilateral efforts.
The problem appears to be somewhere, unwillingness and readiness by those charged with the responsibility of management to appreciate and utilize the available informations, particularly if such informations are obtained as a result of research work carried out by indigenous research officers. Sometimes, this apathy towards utilization of research findings is extended also to results obtained as a result of technical aided projects. The result of this approach by management can, and has led to greater waste of meagre resources that could perhaps have been used elsewhere. Besides, this attitude can contribute to numerous duplications of effort and loss of interest and faith by indigenous scientists as well as useless and repetitive research surveys and projects giving out information already available.
As earlier indicated it is not possible for a paper of this nature to cover in detail what is probably a very broad subject. However, what is discussed above may warn us in this symposium to be rather realistic, particularly when discussing the remaining gaps. Is it not possible that we are having these gaps simply because we have not been relating our research and development to the national policy? We should therefore examine in detail the types of information now remaining to be acquired in relation to the type of information now at our disposal. It is possible, we have been repeatedly acquiring during the past twenty years similar information with the result that the Kenya marine fishery sometimes providing no guidelines which can enhance development, with the result that Kenya marine fishery sector has still to take off.
