Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has extended the deadline for licensing of fisheries activities by two months.
The ministry had earlier set March 31 as the deadline for issuing new licences this year. Non-compliant fishermen risked being denied access to the water bodies after the deadline.
In a telephone interview on Monday, State Minister for Fisheries Hellen Adoa said the extension of the deadline is to allow fishermen time to pay for the licence.
“After receiving numerous complaints from sector players, including fishers, processors, transporters and boat makers, we found it imperative to extend the deadline and allow them time to look for the money and pay for the licence, those without valid licences will not be allowed to operate effective June 1,” she said.
She said some fishermen had also complained that they paid for the licences in the last two years, but never got them.
“One has to first register before getting a licence. So, those who fall under perpetual illegal fishers we don’t recognise them because when they get the licence, they use it for illegal fishing,” Ms Adoa said.
She added that genuine fishers who have not received their licences should be assured of getting them soon.
“Those who have paid their money but have not yet received the licences , they can still use the payment receipts issued by the fisheries officers in their districts,” the minister added.
The fisheries through their umbrella Association of Fishers and Lake Users of Uganda (AFALU) had asked for a six-month grace period to clear their annual licence fees, complaining that if the March 31 deadline is maintained, many fishermen would be locked out because they currently lack money due to dwindling fish stocks.
Mr Godfrey Ssenyonga Kambugu, the chairperson of AFALU, commended the government for listening to the fishers’ concerns.
“This extension [of the deadline] was necessary, we wanted six months but if they have given us two months, we are grateful,” he said.
“We are now going to use our network to mobilise the fishing community to acquire licences and we get this out of the way,” he added. A fisherman dealing in Mukene pays a licence of Shs200,000 and each of his employees pays Shs25,000 while one fishing Nile perch with hooks and nets pays Shs150,000 annually.
Mr Jimmy Atyang, the assistant commissioner for Fisheries Control, Regulation and Quality Assurance, said fishers who fail to utilise the two-month grace period to clear the licence fees will have themselves to blame if they are banned from accessing the water bodies.
“Let them [fishermen] know that we have an annual programme we are following; after May 31, we will be looking at compliance and enforcement on all the lakes, not issuing licences,” he said.
The licence fees
Any vessel operating on lakes such as Victoria, Albert, Kyoga, Edward, George and Wamala is supposed to pay Shs100,000 as licence fee while vessels on Lake Nakivale and other minor lakes are charged Shs50,000.
Those operating in swamps, rivers and dams pay Shs25,000. A vessel used or owned by a non-citizens pays Shs2m for a licence. A fish truck with less than five tonnes pays Shs250,000 while a truck of five to 10 tonnes pays Shs750,000. Each fish factory pays Shs3m.
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