The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Patty Magubira
14 May 2008
Mwanza — President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday ordered investigation on the sharp decline of Nile perch stocks in Lake Victoria.He said the study should be jointly undertaken by experts in the Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries and the Vice-President's Office (Environment).
The head of state said statistics indicates that fish stocks were diminishing at an alarming rate. He cited Nile perch stocks which has declined from 756,000 tonnes in February 2006 to only 375,670 tonnes last February.
He blamed declined stocks to increased number of anglers and fishing vessels in the lake which have increased from 55,985 and 15,434, respectively, in 2000, to 98,015 and 29,732, respectively in 2006.
Dynamite fishing practice is also to blame, said the President.He urged that the livestock and fisheries ministry to closely cooperate with its Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts to ensure that East Africa partner states were not made to import fish products, but rather benefited from surging fish prices at the world market.
The President made the observations when he inaugurated the first state-of-the-art fish processing plant that is fully owned by local investors through the National Investments Company Limited (Nicol).The company has invested Sh5.2 billion in the plant capable of processing 60 tonnes of fish per day.
The plant, according to Nicol board chairman Felix Mosha, is expected to create at least 600 direct jobs. Mr Kikwete said experts to investigate fish stocksshould also suggest strategies to fight illegal fishing and under declaration done by fish processing plants to evade paying export tax.
"The study should also look into widespread claims that some fish processing plants buy small fish below permissible sizes and process them in their factories located in the neighbouring countries.He wondered how come Tanzania with the largest share of Lake Victoria exported less fish fillet compared to the neighbouring countries.
The ministry responsible for fisheries should ensure that Tanzania benefits from fish resources in the Indian Ocean, he stressed. Mr Kikwete commended Nicol for being the first fish processing plant in the lake zone to actively involve anglers in weighing their catch and paying them on the spot.
He urged Nicol board and the Tanzania Fish Development Company (TFDC) management to run the plant to the expectation of Nicol shareholders.
"You must ensure that you abide by local and international market standards and conditions," he said.
He cautioned that poor quality products would jeopardise the sector and the country's economy.
Speaking during the same occasion, the minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries, Mr John Magufuli, assured the President that Nicol was very keen on hygiene that is why it has received a certificate allowing the firm to export fish fillets worldwide.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Citizen. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
