Shem Oirere is a Kenyan journalist who previously worked for daily newspapers as a general news correspondent, business reporter and sub-editor before turning to full-time freelancing. For the more than 20 years, he has covered various sectors of Africa’s economy including agriculture, food processing, and maritime industries. A graduate of the University of South Africa, he has traveled within and outside Africa covering various industry events that have a bearing on the continent’s economy on behalf of different international consumer and trade publications. He currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya.
Author Archive
Uncertainty has gripped the coastal fishing communities in Kenya after a ruling by the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) and largely agreed with Somalia’s claim of ownership of a huge chunk of offshore area that served as a key fishing ground for the past 35 years.
The 100,000-square-kilometer offshore area has been the center maritime territorial dispute between the two neighboring countries since
… Read More
South Africa Minister of Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy has agreed to review the 2021/2022 total allowable catch for the country's West Coast rock lobster (WCRL) fishery after coming under pressure from small-scale fishers and other fishing communities.
Creecy has asked the newly appointed Consultative Advisory Forum (CAF) to carry out the TAC review, which comes shortly after the 15 October, 2021, announcement of a
… Read More
Namibia's High Court has delayed a pretrial hearing of 10 people accused of involvement in the Fishrot scandal to January 2022.
The Fishrot scandal centers around allegedly corrupt dealings between Namibian firm Fishcor and Icelandic seafood company Samherji involving more than USD 650 million (EUR 536 million). High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg said the accused, who include former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and
… Read More
Global investment bank and financial services firm Credit Suisse will pay penalties of over USD 500 million (EUR 429 million) in what anti-corruption experts are calling “the most egregious corruption offense of the decade.”
Credit Suisse admitted to conspiring to commit fraud in a Mozambique tuna-fishing project and, in a coordinated global resolution with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.K. Financial Conduct
… Read More
Two tuna-conservation organizations have accused 32 countries of hindering the fight against illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing (IUU).
The Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) and Tuna Protection Alliance (TUPA) have, in two joint letters, said the failure by 32 governments to ratify the 2012 Cape Town Agreement (CTA) is complicating efforts to battle illegal fishing. At least 18 nations have yet to sign the agreement, and
… Read More
Governments in West Africa should halt the manufacturing of aquafeed and animal feed that uses fish fit for human consumption, according to environmental activist nonprofit Greenpeace.
On Thursday, 7 October, the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior intercepted the Key Sund, a tanker transporting fish oil from West Africa, via the English Channel. In a statement, Greenpeace said the action was taken to bring attention to the alarming rate of growth
… Read More The Namibian High Court approved an application by the country’s prosecution to consolidate two fishery bribery cases involving two former ministers and several other co-accused, in what has been described as Namibia’s biggest corruption scandal.
Justice Christie Liebenberg said the charges against former Namibia Fisheries Minister Bernardt Esau and former Namibia Minister of Justice Sakeus Shanghala and their co-accused should
… Read More
The number of drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) in the Indian Ocean increased four-fold between 2007 and 2013, raising concerns on the harmful impacts the fishing gear has on marine fisheries.
Non-profit group Blue Marine Foundation (BMF), which has a mission of conducting ocean restoration by tackling overfishing, estimated the number of dFADs deployed globally in purse-seine tuna fisheries every year range from 81,000,
… Read More
South Africa said it is committed to taking advantage of the recently approved inland fisheries policy to unlock the country’s inland fisheries resource potential in a drive to achieve food security, job creation, and economic development goals.
South African Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said, in an opinion piece in News24, that the recent approval of South Africa’s National Freshwater (Inland)
… Read More
World governments must embrace innovation and equity if the global aquaculture sector is to grow sustainably and be an all-inclusive food sector, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu.
Dongyu said at the recent Global Conference on Aquaculture Millenium+20 in Shanghai, China, that aquaculture is currently the fastest growing agri-food sector – especially in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
… Read More