Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have failed to manage Lake Victoria, leading to a sharp decline of its most valued species, the Nile Perch.

Fish processors contend that while they have instituted self-regulation measures to address this decline, fisheries management at the fishermen’s level, which is the responsibility of the governments, has not been strictly enforced.

According to Kenya Fish Processors and Exporters Association executive officer Beth Wagude, fish factories can barely operate at their optimum capacity, leading to the collapse of several factories over the years.

“We cannot even raise the 10 tonnes that most factories require to break even,” she said. There are eight factories on the Kenyan side of the lake, four in Kisumu, while Nairobi, Homa Bay, Suba and Migori have one each.

Latest statistics indicate a sharp decline in the number of the Nile Perch, from 1.2 million tonnes a decade ago, to 299,000 tonnes last year.

Besides the huge economic effects supporting the estimated $250 million annual export market, experts have linked dwindling fish stocks in the lake to emerging fishing conflicts such as the row over Migingo Island and warn of an escalation of such incidents if this is not addressed.

Lack of commitment has been blamed for the failure of national initiatives by the governments to reverse the trend. In the recent past, the focus has been on joint plans that have not fared well so far.

Last year, a plan to eliminate illegal fishing and trade in immature Nile Perch in Lake Victoria by December flopped.

However, an assistant director of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) Dr Richard Abila, explained that though success was made in removing illegal gears, authorities could not keep up with the rate at which they were being re-introduced in the lake.

A joint communiqué by the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation Council of Ministers that set the stage for the planned crackdown against illegal fishers alluded to this, saying that soon after confiscation, the illegal gears were replaced.

Drawing from the experience of the botched attempt, the governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are planning a fresh onslaught against the declining Nile Perch stocks. A major security operation is planned in Lake Victoria this month to mop up illegal fishing gear.

The planned week-long operation is part of a regional initiative dubbed Operation Save Nile Perch coordinated by the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO).