The Nile Perch Tragedy:The Quest For Pertnent Measures

The number of famous fish called Nile perch has abruptly decreased in Lake Victoria and has brought cries to families and to economic status of East Africa.

Nile Perch commonly known as Sangara in Kiswahili was first introduced into Lake Victoria in 1950 by British government with the aim of increasing fish population. Nile perch can grow to a length of two meters and can weigh up to 200 kilograms.

In due regard, it was taken as a species that was valueless such that major consumers were ordinary families that could not afford expensive fish species like tilapia, this is according to East African Newspaper.

But the so called delicacy for ordinary people (Nile perch) changed the status dramatically between 1992 and 2004 as scientists from European countries found out that Omega 3 fatty acids that help heart problems and high blood pressure are highly found to this fish. Such findings triggered the change of the status of Nile perch from being delicacy for the ordinary to a delicacy of the elite and made thirty-five million people to depend on it directly or indirectly for a living Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) revealed.

Nile Perch being a delicacy for elite made the waves of other sectors to change as fish processing plants in lake Victoria regions introduced and provided employment to millions of people for by the end of 2006 there were an estimated 200,0000 fishermen operating 65,000 boats were involved in Nile perch fishing on Tanzania’s side of Lake Victoria.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) calculated that in the 1980s alone the boom created 180,000 jobs in the fishing industry. Besides fishermen, there were fish driers, fish smokers, fish friers, fish buyers and sellers, net menders, boat builders and boat repairs.

International donors keen as ever to jump on a winning horse, funded establishment of fish processing factories around the lake. The processors cleaned, filleted and packaged the fish thereby dispatching them in cargo planes around the world. The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO)

In addition, over 180 tonnes of fresh Nile perch were processed daily, ready to be exported to Europe. European Union (EU) countries were consuming 80 percent of the total Nile perch fillet from Lake Victoria. The value of annual exports of Nile perch fillet rose from zero in January 1992 to over $180 million by the end of 2004, according to details gathered by The Citizen Newspaper.

Mwanza city changed gradually from cotton to Nile perch-oriented economy,  for instance, there was an average of five cargo planes with a capacity of 100 tonnes waiting to take to the air Nile perch fillet to Europe every week from Mwanza Airport.

Currently, over two decades since the Nile perch was first exported from Tanzania, the situation is alarming following a sharp decline in stocks in Lake Victoria caused by, among other factors, over fishing. By the end of 2004 when the export of Nile perch fillet was at its peak, about Tanzanian shillings (Tsh.) 600 million (equivalent to US$363,000) were realized by fishermen and middle persons daily. Thousands of fishermen in Lake Victoria and their middle persons were earning about $132 million annually at that time.

The situation is appalling as many fishermen face a depressing future as Nile perch stocks steadily dwindle. In due regard, fishermen are counting their losses and so do the multimillion-dollar fish processing factories, which have also been forced to lay off workers to stem losses.

According to the New Vision Newspaper, there are several reasons, which are said to contribute for the decline of Nile perch such as overfishing, catching immature fish, environmental degradation and pollution on Lake Victoria thereby killing the Nile perch, which forms the backbone of commercial fishing. The young fish are starving and suffocating to death. The National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI) predicts doom if nothing changes, they further report that micro-organisms in the lake on which the young fish feed are also dying. This is brought about by the floating algae bloom on the lake that is poisoning the fish and cutting off oxygen supply to marine life.

Following the decline of Nile Perch, beneficiaries are now witnessing the impact both economically and socially as more than thirty-five million people who used to depend directly or indirectly for a living are now hustling without knowing what to do. Also direct effects are seen economically as now many fish processing plants are shut and number of tonnes of exported vividly reduced.

With this, East African countries have attempted to reverse the damage by introducing several techniques, namely, the most destructive nets were banned outright, while the mesh size for other nets was regulated. Beach seining and trawlers were outlawed such that limits were placed on the size of fish that could be caught. However, despite the said efforts, recent surveys by the LVFO have shown that only 1 percent of the remaining Nile perch fall within legal harvest size limits.

The LakeVictoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) has instructed that the legal size of Nile perch to be harvested should be between 50 and 85 centimeters in total length. This was agreed on and legislated by the three countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in 2000. However, there has been no actual implementation or compliance by the countries.