Fishermen Concerned over Sudden Death of Fish in Lake Victoria

Homa Bay, Wednesday April 19, 2023

K.N.A By Sitna Omar

Fishermen within Kendu-Bay pier are a troubled lot following the massive deaths of fish in that section of Lake Victoria on Monday. 

"We were shocked upon finding a lot of fish lying on the shore of the lake because we didn't expect that would happen," said Ibrahim Kasera, a fisherman.

The fishermen decried that the situation made them incur heavy losses as many of their clients opted to take the dead fish home rather than buy their catch.

Interviewed by KNA the fishermen feared that some people who took home dead fish could be affected after consuming them since no one knew what killed the fish.

"People are eating these dead fish and we do not know the reason behind their deaths and whether they are safe for eating or not. We are worried that they might be affected," Kasera lamented.

Another fisherman, Reagan Onyango also reiterated that they went home without selling their catch because there were no customers.

They called on the government to look into the matter and provide a solution to save the remaining fish in the lake.

The County Director of Fisheries George Okoth explained that he received a call on Monday informing him that some dead fish were cited around Kendu-Bay pier.

“The fish consisted of Nile perch, Tilapia, fresh water eels and other indigenous fish species,” he noted.

He said that they had informed the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) who would come in and sample the fish to ascertain the actual reason behind their massive deaths.

The director noted that in the past there were similar cases which were attributed to upwelling of water in the lake.

Upwelling, he explained is the process where deeper cold water rises to the surface to fill the gap left by the surface water after it has been pushed away from the shore by winds.

“If this happens, the deeper water which might be polluted and having low levels of oxygen, suffocates fish to death. Only after the research institute undertakes investigations will we know if the reason behind the deaths is actually upwelling water or something else,” said Okoth.

Courtesy K.N.A