Management of Fishing Capacity in the Nile Perch Fishery of Lake Victoria

Abstract

The International Plan of Action for Management of Fishing Capacity encourages countries to develop regional and/or national plans of action for management of fishing capacity. The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) working together with FAO have come up with the Regional Plan of Action for Managing fishing capacity (RPOA-Capacity) on Lake Victoria. This paper illustrates the problem of fishing capacity on Lake Victoria and the need for managing the fishing capacity. In managing capacity there is a need to understand the current fishing effort and fish stocks and their interactions. Optimal levels of effort in terms of fishing boats, fishing gear, manpower and time are all needed for effective setting of management measures. A bio-economic model is required to guide management decision on managing fishing capacity. There is an urgent need to collect more reliable disaggregated data on effort targeting different species for effective management of the lake fisheries.

Key words: Lake Victoria, fishing capacity, legislation, stakeholder views, action plan.