By Ronald Odongo
Amolatar
Following a week-long intensive operations conducted by Amolatar district authorities in Lakes Kwania and Kyoga about one hundred local residents have been arrested for fishing using illegal gears. Two hundred bad fishing gears were confiscated and burnt.
Chief administrative officer Ben Ogwette Otim told the Spotlight that the operations were intended to crackdown some people who have persistently been fishing using bad gears.
Nearly 80% of Amolatar and other area surrounding Lakes Kyoga and Kwania depend on fishing to enable them earn a living. They mainly use prohibited ways of fishing like monofilament nets (kamba maji), Sein nets locally popular as Kokota, and beating water with “tycoon” while fishing.
Some members of the communitie accused the district authorities of promoting corruption and the use of the under size nets by selling the ones which they intercepted from other landing sites in the district, accusation which District fisheries officer Anthony Otunga admitted that it was happening in the past before him.
According to the CAO implicated communities have been prosecuted.
CAO Be Ogwette said that more than two hundred illegal nets intercepted during the operations had been burnt before the members of the community to avoid further allegations of re-selling it to other landing sites.
Over the weekend in Akampala landing sites in Amolatar district about 25 fishermen clashed with the security people who were carrying out the operations intending to avoid rampant use of illegal nets.
According to the district fisheries officer Anthony Otunga a basin of the small tilapia fish is being sold at only three thousand shillings in Amolatar.
He argued that if the locals continue using bad gears in fishing after 5 years they would not find any fish in the lakes.
Boniface Opio, a 47 year old man and resident of Bangala landing site in Namasale sub-county who has been fishing since he was 7 stunned the district authorities by arguing that the use of illegal nets has no negative implications as far as fish’s reproduction is concern.
District authority urged the fishing community to voluntarily avoid use of bad fishing gears for sustainability in future.
Mr. Otunga says before the launch of operations a surveillance team from Amolatar Beach Management Unit and the police personnel went to some selected landing sites to check voluntary withdrawal of illegal gears but it proved futile.
He said that before the arrest could be affected fishing communities in Amolatar district were warned on several occasions.
The authorities of Nakasongola have also initiated enforcement action following their expiry of their grace period and more districts are preparing to join campaign against illegal use of bad gears.
Filed under: Amolatar Uganda
