KWANIA, August 7, 2026 — Fishermen in Kwania district have been urged to surrender beach seines, locally known as kokota in the Lango language, to protect fish species, improve the quality of fish in Lake Kwania and promote sustainable fishing practices.
The call was made during a recent engagement with the elected committee tasked with managing fishing operations at landing sites around Lake Kwania.
A beach seine is a long fishing net operated from the shore to encircle and catch schools of fish in shallow waters before being dragged onto the beach. Experts say beach seining can reduce the quality of catches by capturing a high proportion of immature fish and causing physical bruising, stress and flesh injuries as the heavy net is dragged ashore.
During a recent operation, Lt Col Jackson Nuwagaba, the UPDF Marine Commander for the Kwania-Dokolo Sector, said security forces arrested three fishermen found using beach seines and confiscated more than 4,000 pieces of illegal fishing gear.
“We did the operation at night and managed to get three fishermen with kokota. We took them to the police and we are going to produce them in court. We have managed to collect 45 beach seines, 5,000 pieces of monofilament nets, 200 pieces of undersized nets, 20 pieces of kokota lines and 20 pieces of mukene nets,” Nuwagaba said.
Nuwagaba urged fishermen to voluntarily surrender beach seines to his office, saying those who did so would not be prosecuted.
“I call upon every fisherman to bring the kokota [beach seines] willingly so that you cannot be taken to court and face eight years’ imprisonment and suffering, because we want you to enjoy the lake and start getting big fish,” Nuwagaba said.
He, however, warned that the UPDF Marine Battalion would not hesitate to take to court fishermen found using beach seines.
“Our mandate as the UPDF Marine Battalion, and under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2023, is to restore fish in the lake. If we get you on the water using kokota, we are going to take you to court directly. So, bring the fishing gears to the committee members,” he said.
Nuwagaba also advised fishermen to use approved fishing gear, saying this would help protect fish stocks in the lake while improving their livelihoods.
“I encourage the fishermen to stop using bad gears because they will always be destroyed. Start using the required nets and pay the licence fee. With this, you can increase your standard of living,” he advised.
Ronald Otim, the Kwania District Fisheries Officer, also urged the fishing community to surrender illegal fishing nets, saying this would help improve the quality of fish in Lake Kwania and enhance fishermen’s livelihoods.
Otim encouraged communities to work with the elected committee to eliminate illegal fishing gear.
“We are informing the community to bring and surrender the illegal nets because if you don’t surrender them, the Marines are coming for you. Our main target is to have good fish in our lake [Lake Kwania]. Work together with the committee that has been established so that we are able to eliminate the illegal gears from the district,” Otim said.
He called on fishermen and fishing communities to use appropriate nets so they could collectively fight illegal fishing.
“We are encouraging the communities to use recommended nets so that we are able to sustainably utilise the natural resources from Lake Kwania. We are still continuing to carry out the same activity, and our aim is to reduce illegality and also eliminate illegal fishing in Kwania District,” he said.
Charles Otim, the chairperson of the Kwania District Fishing Committee, committed to working with the authorities to eliminate beach seines, saying operations would be conducted at all landing sites.
“We shall work at every landing site together with the Marine Battalion to help remove the kokota. We want to promote good fishing practices,” Otim said.
He also appealed to the UPDF Marine Battalion to keep records of people found using beach seines, saying this would make it easier to track repeat offenders.
“I only appeal that, if we want to get rid of this fishing practice, try to record the names of those using kokota for easy identification during operations,” he said.
Lake Kwania is shared by Amolatar, Apac, Kwania and Lira districts in northern Uganda. Fishing on the lake mainly targets Nile perch and Nile tilapia.
https://thecooperator.news/kwania-leaders-push-fish-farming-to-curb-wetland-degradation/
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