Nairobi — Although it may seem like a bitter pill to swallow for the fishing communities at the Kenyan coast, marine scientists and conservationists have proven through research that closure of selected fishing areas for a given time and imposing restrictions on the use of certain fishing gear, lead to larger catches of fish with a higher value, thus increasing revenue and net profits for the fishermen.

According to an extensive 12-year study that recorded information on 27,000 fish caught within three fishery locations on Kenya's coast, the one next to an area closed to fishing, showed that fish migrating into the restricted area included more preferred species as well as larger ones, which fetched more money in the market.

The research findings for the Kenyan coast come at a time when local fishermen and other key players in the industry are grappling with lack of adequate facilities and incentives to enable full exploitation of the over 300 nautical miles exclusive economic zone in the Indian Ocean.

The regional director of Fisheries, Mrs Martha Mukira, says Kenyan fishermen have not been able to even scrape at the huge potential of the fishery resource.

Statistics indicate that at the moment, they are only able to harvest a paltry 7,000 metric tonnes of fish per year, against a huge potential of about 150,000 metric tonnes worth over Sh20 billion.

Although the Wildlife Conservation Society, which carried out the survey did not provide the amount of fish and tonnage generated in the research, it brought in a new dimension when it released findings from a study showing that closures and gear restrictions implemented in fishing areas is the way to go for the fisher communities, to increase fish tonnage and incomes.

Acceptance

The findings, presented during the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nairobi, researchers say, will help usher in a new era of acceptance for fishery management that provides for local communities while protecting the world's priority seascapes.

The study, by Wildlife Conservation Society senior conservationist Tim McClanahan will appear in the latest online edition of the journal Conservation Biology.

But while commending the research done, Kenya Marine Forum secretary, Mr Anwarry Abae, said that much of the resource in Kenyan waters will remain untapped if the government and donor agencies do not come out to support local fishermen.

Mr Abae said: "Much of what is contained in the report is something local communities have been doing over the years to ensure that they do not over-fish in certain areas, which in most cases are known as breeding grounds.

"But of what use is having abundant stocks when it does not benefit the local people who cannot go beyond 10 nautical miles with their small canoes and traditional fishing methods?"

He blames the poor state of the industry on poor government policies that have sidelined local fisherman, diverting resources to other areas of the industry such as the much hyped aqua culture, while the natural resource remains idle.

Some of the funds, Mr Abae said, should be given out as loans to fishermen for them to acquire modern fishing gear, like ring nets, which cost up to about Sh3 million for a complete, set but whose returns are good.