Fishermen desperate as fish stocks decline in Lake Naivasha

Youths from Airstrip Blessings fish processing plant in Naivasha prepare fish for the local market. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

At Lake Naivasha, one of Rift Valley's freshwater lakes, the air is thick with a sense of loss.

The lake, at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,884 metres (6,181 ft), is a shadow of its former self.

The fish stocks are steadily declining due to climate change and the introduction of invasive species.

The fish processing plants around the lake have expressed concern over low fish production.

They have been forced to rely on fish farmers from the nearby counties for supply as demand continues to rise.

Nakuru county admitted that fish production in the lake has declined due to climate change and  illegal fishing and promised to do major restocking in the coming weeks.

David Agonga from Airstrip Blessings Youths Limited, said demand for fish products in the region has been on the rise in the last one year.

Agonga revealed that the processing plant, which is supported by Nakuru county and donors, had been forced to seek fish from farmers.

“Due to climate change and other factors, the lake cannot sustain our demand and we have been forced to seek fish from fish farmers in nearby counties,” he said.

Speaking at the facility that is involved in value addition, Agonga said that their fish sausages and buggers had been well received in the market due to their nutritional value.

“The biggest challenge that we are facing is the high electricity charges and we hope to get machines which can work better with solar power,” he said.

Lakeview MCA Alex Mbugua admitted that fish catch in the lake had gone down but assured that the county was working on restocking in the coming days.

He lauded efforts by the youth group to work on value addition saying that this had reduced cases of illegal fishing which was the order of the day in the lake.

“We have lost so many youths while fishing illegally in the lake and some of the illegal fishermen are now working in this processing plant,” he said.

Mbugua called on the national government to intervene over the high cost of electricity adding that solar panels would come in handy in the facility.

One of the workers, Rose Mwonge said that the  processing plant had changed the lives of tens of youths in the area by offering them job opportunities.

“Those youths employed in this facility can now earn their daily bread and we hope other counties will come up with such plants leading to job creation,” she said.

This was echoed by another worker Vivian Chelagat who said that the plant was offering youth’s job opportunities through processing and marketing the products.