Lake Victoria Fisheries Collapsing Under Weight Of Diversions, Drought

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Exporters who fly frozen fish fillets mostly to the European Union, now contend with jetties left high and dry and refrigerators that regularly click off with power cuts. "Some companies have big loans from the banks," says Ovia Matovu, chief executive of the Uganda Fish Processors and Exporters Association. "If we have another five months of this then we will be seeing bankruptcies."

Heavy rains started across much of Uganda last month, and officials hope they will boost power generation -- and begin to refill the lake. Fisheries Commissioner Dick Nyeko, a senior government official, admits low levels are causing serious problems for his sector. But he denies any drop in fish stocks, and says the smaller catches are only due to "normal seasonal variations".

Walking along the Ggaba shoreline shortly before dawn, Frank Ssenyonjo, chairman of the local fishermen's association, hopes Nyeko is right. But he has his doubts. "Two years ago, the water would have come up to here," he says, prodding the sand about 12 metres (40 ft) from the waves. "All round the lake, papyrus where tilapia go to breed are left high and dry," he says. "Now they have mud and stones."

One kilo (2 lb) of the popular and once-plentiful tilapia fish has risen to 3,500 Ugandan shillings (US$1.95) from 2,000 shillings six-months ago. But Ssenyonjo says, because of the smaller catches, fishermen such as Selwanga are taking home only about 5,000 shillings a day, or half their usual income. In thousands of small fishing villages, about 30 million Ugandans, Kenyans and Tanzanians depend on Lake Victoria for a living. And it is not just the fishermen feeling the strain.

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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36009/story.htm