The Taita Taveta County government in Kenya has donated 20 fishing nets for small-scale fishermen and a motorboat for surveillance in Lake Jipe and Lake Challa.
The donation comes as Kenya Marine and Fisheries Institute (Kemfri) scientists decried the decline of Tilapia fish stocks in Lake Jipe, which sits on the Kenya-Tanzania border.
Overfishing and illegal fishing have been blamed for the decline in fish stocks. The researchers from Mombasa and Kisumu Kemfri centres also noted that there was plenty of fish in Lake Challa because it has not fully been exploited.
“There is a need to reduce the stocks by half to enable the fish to regenerate faster,” said Kisumu-based Kemfri researcher, Dr Chrispine Nyamweya.
Activities like overfishing, growth of invasive plants, heavy siltation and decline of water from clogged canals have conspired against the lake, they noted.