Uganda’s proposed plan to restock fish populations in the nation’s lakes and rivers has been met with criticism from fisheries organizations and some members of the Ugandan parliament (MPs) who insist the program fails to address the real causes of fish depletion in the nation’s fisheries.
The Ugandan Parliamentary Budget Committee is seeking the support of MPs to allocate UGX 23 billion (USD 6.2 million, EUR 5.8 million) toward financing stock-rebuilding efforts in the East African country’s key fisheries, including Albert, Edward, Kyoga, Victoria, and Wamala lakes, as well as support the construction of fish production facilities in select locations.
The UGX 23 billion figure came out of a report published by the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries that indicates a current funding deficit of around UGX 16 billion (USD 4.3 million, EUR 4 million) for establishing fish production facilities and UGX 7 billion (USD 1.9 million EUR 1.8 million) for restocking lakes and other smaller fisheries that have suffered from reported depletion of fish stocks.
“The [budget] committee recommends that, under the special intervention for the fisheries sub-sector and aquaculture development, UGX 23 billion be provided to implement these activities,” Vice Chairperson of the Budget Committee Achia Remigio said.
However, the Uganda Fisheries and Fish Conservation Association (UFFCA), a fishery sector development and advocacy nonprofit, said the restocking plan “will not work and makes no sense to fishing communities in the manner it is envisaged by the government.”
“Depletion of fish in the lakes targeted in the restocking plan is mainly caused by the increasing use of illegal fishing gear,” UFFCA Executive Director Seremos Kamuturaki told SeafoodSource. “Carrying out restocking …
