ENTEBBE.
Fishermen at Kigungu Landing site have raised concerns on the recurring depletion of the fish stocks in Lake Victoria due to an increase in the illegal fishing activities allegedly aided by the UPDF’s Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) which was deployed by President Museveni on the country’s water bodies to protect fish stocks.
While talking to this publication , the area councilor Mr Nyansio Mutebi said the decreasing fish numbers are a result of increased poor fishing methods due to soldiers allegedly participating in the fishing sector.
“You find that the people the President deployed on the water stopped working at the time of the first commandant Mr James Nuwagaba but ever since Kaija (Lt Col Dick Kaija) and the current FPU commandant Lt Col Mercy Tukahirwa, the fish have disappeared since the soldiers also became fishermen and use the confiscated equipment to fish” he said..
Mr Mutebi said the officers allegedly protect fishermen carrying out illegal activities on the lake.
“There are some islands like Nfo where lawful fishing practices can’t exist and only illegal activities take place, you find fishermen paying a particular fees to the soldiers in order to be allowed to carry out illegal fishing activities, they even have a saying ‘take the mature one, the immature is theirs’ and you pay Shs 1 million and you fish without anyone apprehending you” he said.
Mr Mutebi further said the soldiers are selective when it comes to arresting fishermen carrying out illegal activities on the lake, “Those are SFC marine soldiers but they work with FPU, you find that by 7pm all sorts of illegal fishing activities are on that island…, during operations, you find that a person who doesn’t have any affiliation in the army arrested while those who have are let scot free”.
Mr Mubiru Damyano, a resident said the FPU has forced civilians out of the water and is allegedly carrying out the fishing activities.
“They buy nets, are not advisable, when you find he has cast his net somewhere, he fights until he removes his nets yet when a civilian tries to go there and cast the legally allowed nets, you find when a soldier using illegal fishing nets has removed them and there’s nothing you can do” he said.
The area youth Chairperson Mr Vincent Sseremba said allegations of soldiers participating in illegal fishing isn’t new in the area.
“The allegations of FPU officers engaging in illegal fishing have been there, even though I personally don’t have evidence of them engaging in illegal fishing activities, I can’t object much to it since they are the ones with power .…… But the fish numbers have continued to drop ever since they were deployed on the lake” he said.
When contacted, the FPU spokesperson Lt Lauben Ndifula denied the allegations noting that fishermen are only arrested at Nfo Island as a safety precaution after their own persistence and are handed over to FPU soldiers leading to fishermen thinking the two units are conniving to stop them from fishing.
“Yes, there is a detach for Special Forces Command Marine at Nfo, they are not fishing, their work is to protect the water, monitor all enemies who can use water. Because that detach is on water, and they are protecting that area, you find there is our military equipment. Fishermen prefer to go to that area because they know there is a lot of fish, when now SFC soldiers chase them, not to go near the barracks, they allege that the SFC doesn’t want them to fish, but they do it for security purposes” he said.
However Mr Ndifula declined to comment further on SFC’s role on water since he isn’t the spokesperson of the unit, rather noting that the decline in fish stock was due to a shift in the seasons.
“Sometimes they will say there is a decrease in the fish stock and the reason they will give you is that soldiers are involved in illegal fishing but it’s not true, the fishermen won’t tell you of the season changes in Kigungu, Bugonga but they will say it is because of the FPU doing illegal fishing” he said.
Mr Ndifula added, “They will not tell you the real issue, but they will try to connect things directly because for them their wish is to see that the army is removed from water so that they can do illegal fishing”.
Mr Ndifula dismissed allegations of soldiers selling the impounded immature fish after they arrest fishermen carrying out illegal activities.
“The moment they find you with an illegal net, are found with immature fish, you are arrested and taken to police from where you are taken to court where you are either fined and pay money or sentenced to prison” he said.
Mr Ndifula maintained that there has been an increase in fish in the period Lt Col Mercy Tukahirwa, “Even last year, the fishermen can testify there is an increase in the fish stock but it depends on the area and period ”.