KENYA
National fisheries policy and bycatch legislation in
Kenya
Godfrey Monor, Fisheries Department, Mombasa
In Kenya, commercial shallow water shrimp trawling began in the mid-1970s after the exploratory fishing surveys identified the prawn stocks within the Malindi-Ungwana Bay complex. This is part of Kenya’s coastline with the widest continental shelf, suitable prawn trawling grounds and high prawn concentrations. Over time, the number of trawlers fishing in this area has varied greatly between five and 20 each year. However, not all the licensed trawlers are actively engaged in prawn trawling. For example, in 2000, out of the 12 licensed trawlers only six were fishing. Despite the fact that fishing effort has greatly varied, the total annual average catch has not exceeded 400 tonnes (Anon., 2001). In the last decade, the average annual landing has been 334 and 640 tonnes of prawns and fish respectively (Anon., 1999).
In Kenya, the Department of Fisheries is charged with the responsibility of managing the fisheries resources. The strategy of the Fisheries Department is to maximize the production, exploitation and utilization of the fisheries resources of the country on a sustainable basis for the social economic benefit of the Kenyan people. The Fisheries Department is mandated to formulate and issue national fisheries policies and guidelines for the sustainable management and exploitation of the national fisheries resources.
There is no formal policy in Kenya regarding bycatch. However the Fisheries Department is in the process of developing a national fisheries policy. In the absence of a national policy on bycatch, the government encourages the utilization of fish bycatch as food so as to meet the national food requirement. In Kenya, the following legislation is related to bycatch:
Trawling is only allowed beyond five nautical miles from the shore (Fisheries act cap 378, regulation 43). This regulation was supposed to minimize the conflicts between the semi-industrial prawn trawlers and the local/artisanal fishermen. However, this legislation was not backed by any scientific information. There are relatively poor stocks of prawns beyond the five nautical miles limit and as a consequence prawn trawlers commonly trawl within the five nautical miles band resulting in very many conflicts. The compliance with this legislation is therefore very low. The Government is in the process of reviewing this legislation and detailed research is currently being undertaken to determine the distribution of prawn stocks within the Malindi-Ungwana Bay area. Information gathered from this research will guide in the formulation of a new legislative regime.
The Kenyan Government issued a notice in the Kenya Gazette (Gazette Notice No. 7565 of 31/10/2001) which requires all prawn trawlers to use the Turtle Excluder Devices at all times while trawling in the Kenya territorial waters. However so far the compliance is very poor due to the poor performance of the available TEDs and weak enforcement mechanisms.
In the Kenya Gazette (Gazette Notice No. 7565 of 31/10/2001); the Government has also gazetted a closed season for trawling from November to March. This has been identified as the breeding season for prawns and this legislation is intended to safeguard the breeding of prawns. Implementation has been enforced and compliance is expected to improve.
Together with the above management measures by the Department, introduction of other bycatch reduction devices together with Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) is encouraged. Utilization of the fish as food and encouraging establishment of fishmeal plants are yet other ways towards reducing the large amounts.
MADAGASCAR
Policy and legislation on bycatch in Madagascar
Olga
Andriamiseza, Ministry of Fisheries, Antananarivo
In Madagascar, shallow water shrimps are principally exploited by the industrial trawl fishery and the artisanal trawl fishery. However, there are also traditional fishermen who catch shrimps using simple and traditional methods. The industrial fishery uses boats of more than 50 horsepower, while the artisanal fishery operates with boats fitted with outboard engines of less than 50 horsepower. The total number of industrial trawlers is limited to 72, of which 15 are fishing deep water shrimp. The artisanal fishermen also collect shrimps from the traditional fishermen.
In Madagascar, prawn trawling is carried out in well-demarcated zones, with clear limitations on catch and effort in each zone. The permissible catch and fishing effort for each zone is given in the table below.
|
Zone |
Permissible catch (tonnes/year) |
Maximum number of industrial trawlers (>50 horsepower) |
Maximum number of artisanal trawlers (< 50 horsepower) |
|
A |
1 600 |
8 |
36 |
|
B |
2 300 |
10 |
- |
|
C |
2 500 |
48 |
- |
|
D |
5 00 |
6 |
- |
|
Total |
6 900 |
72 |
36 |
(a) In Madagascar, there is no definite policy on shrimp bycatch. The specific objectives and policy of the Fisheries Department are:
to satisfy local protein requirements;
to fight against poverty;
to create employment;
to consider trawler bycatch as additional supplies of food fish (food security);
to promote increased landings, processing and marketing of the bycatch, by dialogue and consultation with the fishing industry and also by improving control;
to develop cold storage facilities on land;
to take considerations of social and environmental impacts and have proper communication between industry, administration and research.
The general policies on bycatch utilization encourage the trawlers to retain the bycatch which will be sold in the market for human consumption. Threatened species recognized under international conventions are also protected, and Madagascar also follows the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Trawling is restricted to areas greater than two nautical miles from the coast. Like in the other countries, e.g. Kenya, this legislation was implemented without any scientific basis. There is a closed season between November and February to safeguard the breeding season of shrimps. To minimize the amount of discards, a new decree (200-415 of June 2000) requires the fish companies to land a ratio of 1 kg fish to 2 kg shrimp. Previously, the companies were required to land equal quantities of fish and shrimp. This requirement is cumbersome to implement and consequently compliance is very poor. An economic observatory was recently set up to analyse the companies’ performance in reaching the specific objectives of the sector.
MOZAMBIQUE
Shrimp bycatch policy in Mozambique
Francisco Bomba,
Ministry of Fisheries, Maputo
Mozambique is located on the east coast of Africa, with a coastline of 2 700 km stretching from the mouth of the Rovuma River in the north to Ponta de Ouro in the south. The population of Mozambique is 17 million increasing at two percent per annum (Anon.). Mozambique's long coastline and its marine resources support fisheries which are of high importance to the people of Mozambique in terms of food and economic activity - some 80 000 Mozambicans are mainly occupied with fisheries related activities, while coastal communities all along the 2 700 km coastline rely on fisheries as their main economic activity.
The economy is based on agriculture, and exports are dominated by agricultural products (cashews, cotton, sugar, copra, citrus, coconuts and timber) and fisheries. Prawns constituted the main commodity exported in 2001, with a value of US$ 85 million, while the annual value of all exported fish products was US$ 130 million. Aluminium and hydroelectric power are expected to contribute significantly to export earnings since the installation of the Mozal aluminium smelter (2000), and new or restored electricity lines connecting the Cabora Bassa Dam to the South African and Zimbabwean electricity markets. The fishery sector is divided into three categories; 1) The artisanal fisheries of coastal communities along the coastline and in inland waters, which produce both for subsistence and commercial sale; 2) The semi-industrial fisheries by intermediate size boats (10-20 m in length), mainly involved in shallow water marine shrimp fisheries and the kapenta fisheries in Cahora Bassa - these provide for local consumption and export; and 3) The industrial fisheries with larger vessels (> 20 m), fishing for shallow water shrimp and resources in deeper waters, mainly for export.
It is estimated that artisanal fisheries land some 70 000 tonnes per year. The semi-industrial fleet lands 11 500 tonnes of which shallow water shrimp contributes 1 500 tonnes and kapenta in Cabora Bassa contributes 9 000 tonnes. In 2001 the industrial fleet of 80 vessels licensed in Mozambique landed 10 000 tonnes of which 9 000 tonnes were shallow water shrimp. The shallow water shrimp fisheries are in commercial terms by far the most important with an export of 9 000 tonnes worth US$ 85 million in 2001. Additionally, a fleet of 113 foreign vessels exploit tuna under license agreements, with catches amounting to 3 000 tonnes in 2001.
The most important commercially exploited stocks, including shallow water shrimp and deep water lobster, have been assessed to be highly or fully exploited, while some resources including large and small pelagic fishes and demersal fishes in some areas seem to be lightly or not exploited. Apart from providing food security, the artisanal fisheries serve also as a buffer for economic activity for people who are losing opportunities in other sectors. This may be an important contribution to the overall economy in slump periods but may also lead to longer term impoverishment in coastal communities if a net influx of people to coastal fisheries becomes more than just a temporary feature. The semi-industrial fleet, the industrial fleet and the artisanal fisheries all exploit the same stock to some extent. The general objectives of the Mozambican Fisheries Policy are (Anon., 1996):
For artisanal fisheries
To improve the supply of fish on the local market.
To improve the living conditions for people in the fisheries communities through increased exploitation on a sustainable basis of fish resources accessible to them.
For semi-industrial fisheries
To contribute to the increase of foreign revenues and increase the supply to internal markets.
To contribute significantly to the increase of export products, to the local consumption and also to improve the living conditions of fisheries communities, in a sustainable use of the resources, and in the improvement of profits generated from the respective vessels.
For industrial fisheries
To contribute significantly to stabilizing the national economy through an increase in net foreign exchange revenue.
On a sustainable basis improve the profitability of the utilization of the fishing resources.
According to the national policy in Mozambique, the Government encourages the trawling companies to offload the highest quantity of bycatch possible. Taking into account the importance of the shrimp resources in the Mozambican economy, strong management measures have been established for sustainable exploitation of this resource. The main measures are:
closed season of three months;
control of mesh size of the nets (55 mm);
annually quotas for each vessel;
limitation of number of vessels;
closed fishery (no more entries);
no industrial trawlers are allowed to trawl in water less than 10 m deep and less than one nautical mile from the coast.
At the moment the Government has put into practice management measures that require the companies to offload an annual quantity of bycatch of at least double the shrimp quota for each vessel. The Ministry of Fisheries in Mozambique, the Government entity responsible for the fisheries sector, allocates shrimp quotas and the corresponding bycatch per company on an annual basis, and subsequently collects the fees based on the shrimp quotas and the retained bycatch.
The Ministry of Fisheries has to enforce the use of bycatch. The measures that have been taken until now are not effective. Some of the reasons for this include fear of theft from vessels and fears of disrupting this extremely important source of foreign revenue. Taking into account the needs for food of Mozambican people, efforts to reduce their impoverishment, and the over-exploitation of most common fish resources in recent years, we have to change our attitude and think about ways to solve bycatch problems. There is wastage occurring in high value fisheries resources. This misuse is undertaken for economic reasons by a minor group of companies and, while people are starving, should be considered morally wrong and needs to be solved. Administrative measures have to be put forward in a strong way, including use of devices for excluding bycatch. Mozambique is currently developing a fisheries policy and a bycatch policy will be included in this.
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Bycatch policy and legislation in South Africa
Johan
Groeneveld, Marine and Coastal Management, Cape Town
South Africa subscribes to the principles embodied in the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, part of the preamble of which states:
“Selective and environmentally safe fishing gear and practices should be further developed and applied, to the extent practicable, in order to maintain biodiversity and to conserve the population structure and aquatic ecosystems and protect fish quality”.
Some of these principles are covered by the South African Marine Living Resources Act No 18 of 1998, the introduction to which includes the following statement:
“To provide for the conservation of the marine ecosystem, the long-term sustainable utilization of marine living resources and the orderly access to exploitation, utilization and protection of certain marine living resources; and for these purposes to provide for the exercise of control over marine living resources in a fair and equitable manner to the benefit of all the citizens of South Africa; and to provide for matters connected herewith”
The following objectives and principles of this Act (Chapter 1 [2]) are relevant to the issue of target and bycatch species:
the need to achieve optimum utilization and ecologically sustainable development of marine living resources;
the need to conserve marine living resources for both present and future generations;
the need to apply precautionary approaches in respect of management and development of marine living resources;
the need to protect the ecosystem as a whole, including species not targeted for exploitation;
the need to preserve marine biodiversity.
A definition of bycatch is provided in the regulations in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act: “Bycatch” is any species landed in addition to a target species for which a permit has been issued.
There are numerous regulations that have been promulgated in terms of the Act:
Chapter 1: Administrative matters
Chapter 2: Rights of access, other rights, permits and licences
Chapter 3: Closed seasons and closed areas
Chapter 4: Use of gear
Chapter 5: Species restrictions
Chapter 6: Mariculture
Chapter 7: Landing, transportation, delivery, receipt, processing and marketing of fish and fish products
Chapter 8: Compliance control
Chapter 9: Other provisions
Specific regulations that are used to control bycatch of all fisheries in South Africa include:
Specific regulations or permit conditions relevant to bycatch in the South African prawn trawl fishery include:
Any spotted grunter (Pomadasys commersonii) caught may not be sold.
Closed seasons and areas: “Fishing is prohibited on the Tugela Bank...from November to February”.
Gear limitations: “The mesh size on trawlnets may not be less than 50 mm, measured centre knot to centre knot”.
Only five trawlers are allowed within seven nautical miles of the coast at any one time.
These regulations were introduced in order to:
Levels of discarded bycatch remain unacceptably high (Figure 1) and contrary to policy.
Figure 1: Composition of prawn trawl catches in South Africa (Fennessy and Groeneveld, 1997).
However, there is a need for research before regulation. In this regard, a long-term observer programme started in 2002, which aims for 15 to 20 percent coverage of all trawls. The programme:
Discarded bycatch are identified and quantified (by numbers and mass) at sea. A key (field guide) for species identification at sea has been developed for the fishery.
Further initiatives to reduce discarded bycatch in the prawn trawl fishery include:
trials with bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) to take place in 2003;
policy to address bycatch and discarding by demersal trawlers in early stages of development.
These initiatives will, in the near future, provide a scientific basis for the management of bycatch in the South African prawn trawl fishery.
