Source: All Africa
Increased illegal fishing activities in the Indian Ocean are threatening to destock tropical tunas along the Eastern and Southern African coast, says Fisheries Development minister Paul Otuoma.
Dr. Otuoma, in a speech read on his behalf by Kenya Marine and Fishery Research Institute (KMFRI) assistant director Martha Mukinda yesterday, called on the 28 member countries of Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to stamp it out.
“Proper use of fisheries resources should take into account the code of conduct for responsible fisheries,†he said.
He told the 28 scientists meeting at the Nyali Beach Hotel in Mombasa that piracy had also become a major challenge in monitoring the illegal fishing activities.
“The issue of piracy cannot be ignored and Kenya being a neighbor to Somalia has a share of the tribulations affecting the region,†he said.
However, the minister expressed disappointment that regional countries' ability to effectively patrol their waters was limited and a costly exercise.
He suggested that the member countries instead use their ports to deter and eliminate the illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean.
“Kenya has undertaken a significant step to manage and develop its fisheries resources by restructuring the fisheries department to meet new responsibility,†he said.
The minister disclosed that 14 per cent of all the recovered tuna tags from longline come from Kenya which demonstrated how serious the country was on the IOTC tagging program.
In a recent joint patrol exercise involving South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania, Dr. Otuoma said they were able to arrest a number of illegal fishing vessels.
“It is my hope that with more regional cooperation the vice could be minimized if not fully eradicated,†he said.
During a sideline interview, IOTC executive secretary Alejandro Anganuzzi said the migratory nature of tuna fish was causing a challenge to scientists to monitor them adequately.
“For instance, between 2002 and 2005 we had large catch of tropical tunas but this dropped sharply in the following years to date,†he added.
Apart from the tropical tunas, Mr. Anganuzzi said the scientists would debate on other types of tunas such as yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye which were also dwindling in numbers.
“On all these species, we will look at their catch at size, catch at age, tagging data and stock assessment before passing this information to member states for their December meeting,†he said.