Fisherfolk cry foul as Chinese imports dominate market

Rising fish imports into the lakeside city of Kisumu are providing a cheaper choice for consumers but leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of traders.

Traders are now calling for a policy shift, cautioning that liberalisation could drown Kenya’s fish industry.

According to Kusa Beach Management Unit (BMU) member Francis Awino, the move — which was meant to address shortages — has run out of control, throwing fishing communities into a life of uncertainty.

“Things are getting worse as the mainstay of the people who have relied on fishing for decades continues to be neglected, thanks to the cheap Asian nation imports,” he said.

Mr Awino, who comes from West Kabodho, Kisumu County, called on the national and county governments to look for ways of ensuring that fisherfolk are protected.

He termed as ironical for a region, which boasts Africa’s largest freshwater lake, to be importing fish in huge quantities, forcing locals to settle for poor prices.

Unlike in the past where Chinese fish were only available in major towns, Mr Awino said the popular delicacy has now penetrated and dominated local market centres where Lake Victoria fishermen enjoyed monopoly.

“With as little as Sh50, one can get a generous meal from Kolweny and Katito townships where people preferred the local catch which is considered tastier and more nutritious,” he said.

Mr Awino said low demand for tilapia from Lake Victoria has forced fishermen to drastically slash their prices up to five times as desperation reigns in the formerly lucrative business.

The despair has not spared owners of fish ponds, which had begun to gain footing among communities that traditionally did not consume the delicacy. Due to the close similarity between the two types of fish, the chair of Ndeda BMU in Bondo (Siaya County) Joseph Waguma said unsuspicious buyers often end up paying for the Chinese variety.

“The traders who prefer selling the fish deep fried have resorted to the use of different additives to lure buyers who are attracted to the physical look,” he said.

Mr Waguma said orders from local hotel owners and events such as funerals had fizzled out.

Mr Bernard Ominde, who works in the marketing department at Ndeda BMU, says fish from China have flooded Bondo, Usenge and Siaya towns, while local fishermen are forced to rely on selling small fish.

Due to the demand, assistant director of Fisheries Christine Okoth said there is a significant rise in illegal fishing gears, thereby contributing to drastic reduction in fish stocks. She said some fishermen are using mosquito nets leading to the destruction of fish breeding grounds — they capture both mature and immature fish, including their eggs.

READ: Coast fishermen group defends Chinese fish imports

The state department last month confiscated and set alight illegal fishing gear worth over Sh500,000 in Kisumu Central, North Rachuonyo and Nyando sub-counties.

“We will intensify and implement routine monitoring, control and surveillance exercises to other fishing grounds in the lake in order to save Lake Victoria and fish stock from illegal fishers,” said Mrs Okoth.

“It is unfortunate that some of the dangerous nets we confiscated belong to some BMU officials who are supposed to work with us to expose these kind of illegality,” she said.

According to Section 43 (4) of the Fisheries Act, it’s illegal to use nets of less than 127mm (hole size) when diagonally straight.

READ: Alarm over cheap Tilapia imports from China

Statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that China’s fish exports to Kenya hit the Sh1 billion mark in 2015 as the growing appetite threatens to paralyse Nyanza’s economy, which was fuelled by the water creatures.