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Illegal fishermen outwit law enforcement unit
2006-04-19 12:37:01
By Beatrice Philemon
Although the government deployed speedboats offshore in an effort to fight illegal fishing, reports from the field indicate that the strategy has not significantly solved the problem.
The government has recently taken various steps to conduct surveillance against illegal trawling, along the India Ocean coastline.
But dealers say dynamite fishing, which is the most destructive of all illegal fishing activities, is still taking place as usual along the Indian Ocean Coastline.
Shaban Said, a Marine Engineer with the Magogoni Fish market Complex, said last week that dynamite fishing, is on the increase, due to new tactics adopted by the illicit fishermen.
’They wait until the boats have departed and continue to use dynamite,’ he said, noting that it has become a matter of timing, since the boats don’t remain in the sea to patrol the coral reefs twenty four hours.
He added:’We asked the Ministry to conduct surveillance permanently against illegal trawling’,.
The use of dynamite fishing or explosions has been cited as a key factor that causes multiple damages to marine environment, including cutting mangroves, burning forests, destruction of fisheries, loss of revenues, among others.
This also affects people living in those areas, he noted.
Fishermen claim that the coastline areas between Nyaroro and Ukuza Islands are the key targets by dynamite fishing gangs.
’Unregistered fishing vessels and fishermen from southern regions are the leading people who are using dynamite fishing,’ he alleged.
According to him, 90 percent of fishermen from Southern Zone are using dynamite fishing technology.
Last year the government decided to buy fibreglass patrol boats so as to fight illegal fishing along the Indian Ocean Coastline and Lake Victoria.
The use of patrol boats could help to check serious threats to fishery resources like the rampant use of illegal and destructive fishing gears and methods such as beaches seines, undersized mesh size nets, dynamiting, poison and monofilament.
In addition to enforcement of law against illegal trawling, the move is a righteous attempt by the government to put in force Lome Agreement on Fishing which specifies 200 nautical miles as being territorial waters.
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