NTOROKO – The UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit [FPU] has impounded and burnt illegal fishing gear on Lake Albert in Ntoroko district worth about Shs 2 billion in a six-months operation.
The operation which was concluded on Thursday left more than 500 illegal boats and 20,000 illegal fishing nets burnt and their owners arrested and charged in courts of law.
The FPU commander Lt. Col. Dick Kaija said the operation took six months to curb the use of illegal fishing equipment on Lake Albert in Kanara town council Ntoroko district.
“Most of these illegal fishing tools were impounded on water and few of them were impounded on land. Most of the owners were arrested and tried in courts of law. Some of the fishermen were from Congo side and others from Uganda side because this water body is shared by the two countries,” he said.
He however revealed that most of the owners of these illegal fishing gear are very poor and had acquired loans to buy the equipment.
“I appeal to all fishermen to stop investing their money in illegal gears because they will end up losing them and making many losses. He encouraged fishermen to invest money in buying legal fishing gear to avoid more losses,” Kaija said.
The Ntoroko district chairperson LCV, William Kasoro appealed to Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] authorities to join Uganda in the fight against illegal fishing on Lake Albert since it is a shared resource and a source of livelihood to many people in both countries.
“My prayer is that our colleagues in DRC side appreciate this operation and do it on their side too so that we can protect this resource together. We need to protect the breeding ground for fish on both sides because about 30 percent of the population in Uganda depends on fish,” he said.
The Kanara town council chairperson LCIII, David Kor appealed to government to extend a helping hand to the fishermen, saying most of them have families to look after.
Fishermen react
Hammed Agaba, a fisherman on Lake Albert in Kanara town council said for the last three years they have been struggling to recover their nets and boats that were washed away when Lake Albert flooded.
“We are calling upon government through its programmes to extend a hand to us so that we can be able to acquire soft loans to buy recommended fishing gear because they are very expensive and we can’t afford them,” Agaba said.
Another fisherman, Swaleh Mwesige, commended government for protecting the lake through encouraging good fishing practices.
“Due to proper fishing methods, we are now catching big fish in plenty although we don’t have market for it. We used to sell a big tilapia at Shs 80,000. Now we are selling it at between Shs 4,000 and Shs 5,000,” he said.
The FPU was created in 2017 to combat illegal fishing practices to protect the fish resources that were under the threat of depletion.
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