On the Ugandan shores of the largest lake in Africa, fishers were increasingly coming up empty-handed. Lake Victoria once boasted 500 species of fish but in recent years overfishing and poor fishing practices have taken a heavy toll on fish stocks, the environment and the communities who depend on them.
“I was a fisherman using illegal methods,” says Kigozi Robert Sande, a fisher in the Kalangala district. “When the Ugandan government ran an operation to stop these practices, we became jobless.”
Many fishers like Robert were fishing without permits or using small boats and nets that were not allowed on the lake. For example, some were using a specific type of net, seine nets, to trap immature fish, though illegal.
When the government cracked down, “a big percentage of people were left without a source of livelihood, and they were dependent on fishing,” says Jacob Olwo, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer working in Uganda.
One million people in Uganda are engaged in capture fisheries, while more than five million people across the country depend on the sector for their livelihoods.
However, fishing communities around the lake have been dealing with declining catches, poor handling facilities, increased post-harvest losses, greater competition for fishing resources and limited sources of income for some time.
For the past two years FAO has been working with Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries on a joint project to reshape the lake’s fisheries and aquaculture sector. The project is timely as FAO marks the contribution of small-scale fishers, fish farmers and fish workers during 2022, the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA).
Entitled Integrated Livelihood Support to Fishing Communities around Lake Victoria, the project has provided affected communities with training and equipment to diversify their skills and increase their incomes.
“This project made people more aware of legal fishing methods, provided input and equipment, especially for women and youth and promoted alternative practices such as aquaculture through cage fish farming on the lake and inland ponds,” explains Olwo.
Participants learned new skills to develop cage fish farming, a form of aquaculture carried out on the lake, and to construct land-based ponds for culturing local fish species. Others were provided with new equipment and training on how to improve post-harvest processing techniques.
“We thought this project would provide support to the people who lost their fishing inputs, who lost their source of livelihood and needed to start something new to support their families,” says Olwo.