Theft of maws
Boat owners, like Akinyi who do not venture into the lake, hire fishermen who operate the boats. Each boat is manned by between three and five fishermen.
So, there is this one day, Akinyi recalls, she got to the beach early morning as usual to receive her boats.
As the norm, when the boat arrives, the boat owner, together with the fishermen inspects the catch, and sell to traders at the beach, before settling daily expenses such as payment for the fishermen, taxes, among others.
Akinyi recalls how, after sales in one boat, she only managed to gather Sh12,000. Despite the ever dropping catch recorded that period, Akinyi says this was a record low.
"For a boat to get into the lake for a day's fishing expedition, you put in between Sh30,000 to Sh40,000," she said, noting that the money goes into buying fuel to power the boat, lighting equipment, paying the boat workers, among others.
Despite suspecting that something was wrong following this trend, Akinyi kept the faith, hoping that the next day would be better.
However, few hours later on the same day, Ms Akinyi got the shock of her life. A friend tipped her that one of her fishermen was spotted depositing Sh20,000 at a nearby mobile money shop, and was heard making a call to the supposed receiver of the funds, mentioning that it was a 'good day' in the lake.
He admitted to have received reports of illegal traders using unscrupulous meant to acquire maws from fishermen.
"I have to say the reports have gone down, especially after measures were put in place by the various stakeholders," he said.
Chen says China imposes seven per cent import duty on fish maws from Kenya, since Keny, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 95 billion dollars, is considered a lower middle-income country by the United Nations. Kenya on the other hand levies 0.5 percent export duty on maws.
In the contrary, Uganda and Tanzania are considered lower-income countries, hence their products do not attract this taxation in China.
This means Uganda and Tanzania maws have competitive advantage over Kenya maws in Chinese market.
However, exporting to China fetches better income for Kenyan maw traders because the product goes to the consumers directly, in comparison to exporting it to Uganda and Tanzania traders who would act as middlemen as they also still take it to the Chinese market.
Because of import duty-free policy for Uganda and Tanzania in China, Uganda and Tanzanians pay higher for maws at the lake.
This, Mr Chen claims, has seen traders from Uganda and Tanzania buy the maws from Kenya, and export to China through their countries, hence maximising profits, adding that they pay fishermen Sh5,000 per kilo of fish maws.
"This imbalance between Kenya and the two countries makes our product less competitive in the Chinese market, hence we have to pay fishermen lower rates in order to stay afloat," he said.
And to supplement their income, Mr Chen says they have ventured into exports of dagaa, fish skins, and other agricultural products.
"Today, we are processing close to 70 per cent of the maws we used to process five years ago," he said.
It is this imbalance, that Chen believes led to the sprouting of illegal traders, and middlemen took over, conniving with fishermen to sell them the maws without the knowledge of boat owners.
However, data reported by the Kenya government on UN Comtrade, the United Nations trade database, offers a contradictory view.
This data shows a seven-fold increase by 2023 in the country's export of maws from the average it exported between 2015-2017 when the country started reporting its maw exports.
While Kenya used to export more of its maws to Uganda for processing, these dropped off after Uganda set an eight percent tax on maw exports in 2021.
But as Uganda has struggled to secure an MoU directly with China - the major final destination of the maws - and has instead exported the majority of its maws to Hong Kong, Kenya has managed to establish a direct link with China, which could potentially allow for increased profits. Kenya started exporting directly to China in 2022, and last year, China accounted for the bulk of its exports.
He says fish processors have had field day setting fish prices which favour them while disadvantaging fishermen.
"Today, a fisherman can remove the maws and sell to the maw processors, then sell the flesh t consumers, in case the fish processors decide to set law prices," he said.
According to Nyenye Beach Management Unit Chair Daniel Odero, the weak fisheries laws in Kenya could be giving room for illegal cross-border trade of the maws, since several Ugandans and Tanzanians fish and dock in Kenyan beaches.
"It is not easy for Kenyan fishermen to access Uganda or Tanzania waters, as they get arrested and their gears confiscated. But lack of patrol by Kenyan security in the lake has seen fishermen from the two countries easily cross to our side, and I believe they cannot resist the temptations from the huge cash dangled by illegal maw traders," he said.
A technical report on economic valuation of the Nile perch products and by-products in Lakes Victoria published by Kenya Marine and Fisheries Institute (KMFRI) in June 2024 indicated that Nile perch industry in Kenya operates through 193 landing sites predominantly landing Nile perch, with an average beach price per kilo for small-sized fish being $2.26, medium-sized fish $3.47, and large-sized fish $4.50.
Streamlining fish maws trade
Samson Kidera, Western and Nyanza Regional Fisheries Coordinator admitted that policy gaps has made it difficult to respond effectively to the claims of illegal fish maw trade.
He noted that the islands in the lake have acted as conducive environment for the black market which is currently categorised as an economic crime in Kenya.
"Illegal fish maw trade is one of the issues we have numerous times encountered during our fisheries multisectoral engagements," he said.
Taxation of the fishing sector is currently guided by the Fisheries Act Cap 386 and Fisheries (General) Regulations which impose taxes on fishing gears, licensing of fishermen, fish processing, fish movement, importation and export, shell handling, sports fishing, among other fishing related activities.
Other related taxes are the general income taxes, and trade licenses applicable to other businesses at the national and local governments.
The regulations do not have specific mention on fish maws, and how it should be traded.
Despite no clear records on arrest of perpetrators, Mr Kidera said a multisectoral response bringing together the State Department of Fisheries, the Kenya Coast Guard, the Beach Management Units, the police and the Kenya Forest Services to escalate monitoring, control and surveillance to deal with the vice.
"We are currently working on regulations which treat fish maws as a product on its own. The document will provide guidelines on fish maw trade, and movement and taxation," he said.
According to Fisheries Statistical Bulletin June 2022, an annual report by the State Department for Fisheries and Blue Economy, dagaa dominated the catch with 42 per cent of the total fish captured from Lake Victoria, then followed by nile perch at 25 per cent, Tilapia at 13 per cent, followed by others.
The report indicated that Lake Victoria's Fishery accounted for 86,394 metric tons in 2022, which was an eight per cent decrease in catch compared to 94,349 metric tons recorded in the year 2021.
It attributed the decrease to increasing overfishing and illegal fishing practices driven by population growth and economic factors, which has put immense pressure on fish stocks.
The report however does not capture fish maws among the fish products from Lake Victoria.
Additional reporting by Annika McGinnis.
This story was produced in collaboration with InfoNile, an arm of Water Journalists Africa in the Nile basin and supported by the Pulitzer Center