Fishermen in Lamu are abandoning destructive seine nets that threaten the country's fish stocks for eco-friendly gear in the latest push for sustainable fishing practices.
Speaking in Kiunga, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy said he launched a programme to ensure fishermen voluntarily exchange seine nets for sustainable fishing gear.
Timamy said 11 fishermen crew out of 15 in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve (KMNR) have surrendered fishing gear that posed danger to marine life due to overfishing, stating that this move would lead to less wastage of fish produce.
"To facilitate the voluntary exchange of beach seine nets in the county, the Gear Exchange Programme is supporting 176 beach fishers in the Reserve with more sustainable fishing gears," said Timamy.
The county is implementing the programme in collaboration with the Northern Rangeland Trust and the Nature Conservancy.
Senior Research Scientist at Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Dr Gladys Okemwa, said scientific monitoring would be done to ascertain the impact of the new gears in terms of volume of the catch, species, and size of the fish.
