Africa-Press – Uganda. Fishermen at Kasensero landing site in Kyotera District have asked the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mr Mathias Mpuuga to lead efforts to operationalise the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2021.
Last year, Parliament passed the Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill, 2021, that, among others, prescribes a Shs40m fine or jail sentence of two years for those found selling fish without a valid fish trade licence. President Museveni has since assented to the Bill.
However, fishermen say the Act is not being enforced by a Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Unit.
According to Mr Deo Nsamba, the chairperson of Kasensero Town Council, soldiers under the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) have continued to torture fishermen suspected of engaging in illegal fishing instead of subjecting them to the new law.
“With the new law, we expected that things could change, but nothing has changed yet. The UPDF just intensified their operations,” Mr Nsamba told Mr Mpuuga who was on an oversight tour in Kyotera District last week.
He asked Mr Mpuuga to mobilise all legislators to push the government to surrender the powers of monitoring the waters from FPU to marine police as the law stipulates.
Ms Fortunate Nantongo, the Kyotera District Woman MP, said: “We shall not give up because it’s the duty of the government to enforce the laws and provide services to citizens.”
Meanwhile, Mr Amos Sseguya, a fisherman at Kasensero Landing Site, decried the stringent conditions on fishing gear that have pushed some fishermen out of the business.
“Very few fishermen can afford a boat of Shs30 million as per the new guidelines. The government should allow us use our small boats with licensed nets and other gears,” he added.
Mr Mpuuga said: “Local fishermen have a stake in our water bodies and the intention to drive them away is a planned move by interested individuals. We asked the government to support you with subsidised fishing gear under the Parish Development Model, but they refused,” he said.
He warned soldiers against violating the rights of fishermen, saying: “One day, power will shift. But no one who has engaged in brutalising people will go unpunished. We shall not take revenge but we shall ensure that justice prevails,” Capt Andrew Engibu, the FPU commander in Greater Masaka, said the new Act doesn’t outlaw their operations against illegal fishing.
“We are always on standby to respond to issues concerning illegal fishing and we are doing this in accordance with the law,” he said.
In May, while concluding his four–day tour of Greater Masaka, President Museveni ordered the screening of fishermen on Lake Victoria to curb illegal fishing.
Over the last 15 years, the fisheries sector has played an important social and economic role in Uganda as the second largest foreign exchange earner.
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