Bad weather causes fish shortage

By Paul Gitau

An acute shortage of fish is expected in Malindi and Magarini districts following rough weather along the Kenyan coastline.

Majority of fishermen have heeded an advisory by the Meteorological Department and kept off the sea.

In Ngomeni, about 50km from Malindi town, more than 500 fishermen have not ventured out to sea for the past two days to avoid calamities.

Ngomeni Beach Management Unit (BMU) chairman Omar Mushamu confirmed that none of his members had ignored the advisory but warned of scarcity of fish and other marine products.

"A huge fish shortage should be expected in coming days as fishermen wait for calm waters," he said. "This will inconvenience residents since many of them depend on the sea."

However, about 60 fishermen in Malindi defied the weather warning and took to the ocean for the

The chairman of the Malindi BMU Salim Omar Ali said none of the vessels that ventured out had returned to shore.

"I have, however, communicated with them and they said they are on their way back although it is raining heavily in the sea," he said.

Heavy rains have been pounding the region for the last three days and most roads have been rendered impassable.

Mr Hassan Musa, the Kenya Red Cross co-ordinator for the Malindi and Magarini branches, said he had dispatched a team to assess the situation.

Mr Musa said there were fears some of the seasonal rivers would burst their banks leading to floods. He asked locals to be on the look out to avert calamities.