Fishing

Raila Odinga has called for a ban on the manufacturing and sale of illegal fishing gears to save the declining fish count in the country.

Raila observed that the fight to contain the use of illegal gears has failed to bear the desired fruits, hence the need to stop manufacture and sale of the same.

Odinga told the fishermen to act responsibly and embrace community policing to ensure that the rate of fingerling depletion due to use of illegal gears is reversed.

The Prime Minister was reacting to remarks by the Fisheries Development Minister Paul Otuoma who decried the rate of fish depletion in Lake Victoria .

He assured fishermen that the government will increase security in Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana and the coastal region to ensure their safety.

The Premier called for investing in aqua-culture fish farming to ease pressure from the lake.

The Fisheries Minister said the number of Nile perch had declined from 1.2 million in 2002 to 300,000 in 2009.

He said council of Ministers of Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization approved funding of about US$600,000 for emergency dubbed "operation save Nile Perch "to restock Nile perch in Lake Victoria and clean up illegalities by January 2010.

Otuoma blamed the reducing volume of water in Lake Victoria on silt caused by the degradation of environment and called for protection of country's water towers.