Status of the nearshore fisheries resources in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya is endowed with vast marine fisheries resources in the Indian Ocean with a coastline of approximately 600Kmlong. The fishery sub-sector is an essential contributor to the GDP and provides livelihoods to many coastal and inland lake residents. In 2013, the average fish production was 163,000metric tonnes, with marine fisheries contributing about 5.6%of the total catch. The overall catch from the coostol and marine artisanal fishery has been estimated to range between 7,000and 9,000 metric tonnes for over ten years. The coastline supports vibrant nearshore fisheries comprising of artisanal fishing fleets with a variety of gears and methods involved. The coastal and marine waters fisheries employ over 13,000fisherswith more than 250,000 individuals directly depending on coastal and marine fish production. Coastal fishing is seasonal and weather dependent, as a result of monsoon winds which are one of the primary driving factors in the overall fisheries production; hence impacting the total fishing effort both inside and outside the reef. The seasons and weather affect fish migration, which leads to changes in the behavior of fishers in relation to the targeted species and methods of fishing). Catch composition also varies due to seasonal changes as well as selectivity characteristics of the gear used. The main species caught along the coast are seagrass and reef-associated demersal fish species which include Parrot fishes, Scavengers, Snappers and Rabbit fishes. Pelagic fishes including Kingfishes, Jacks and Tuna as well as Sharks and Rays are also exploited. Crabs are widely caught in mangrove areas and along beaches, while prawns are captured in creeks and river estuaries. Other exploited species include spiny rock lobsters, octopus, squids, cuttlefish and sea cucumbers. Kenya has a national fisheries policy whose objective is to ensure science-based sustainable management of fisheries. As such, a sound knowledge of the status of fish stocks at a given time, and how these stocks would respond to different levels of exploitation is required to develop management strategies. The realization of this policy needs to be supported by scientific information on the status of fisheries and the dynamics of the fishing fleets which can only be obtained through structured frame surveys (FS) and catch assessment surveys (CAS). Frame surveys take a census of fishers, fishing crafts, and gears at all the landing sites within the coastal artisanal fishing sector. These surveys provide information on the fishing capacity as well as supplementary information that can be useful in planning and decision making. On the other hand, catch assessment surveys are conducted in a structured manner to collect information on fish catches and fishing effort. The first marine artisanal fishery frame survey was conducted in 2004. Subsequently, two other biennual frame surveys, funded by the Kenyan government, were conducted in 2006 and 2008. In the past, much attention was focused on the enumeration of total landed catches as a measure of fishing intensity. However, there were challenges in estimating the actual total fish production due to non-reporting of fish catch. In addition, fishing effort data was often not collected due to inadequate resources and the complexity of vessel and gear combinations. This complexity is exacerbated by the highly dispersed nature of the landing sites in remote areas, particularly in cases of limited staff capacity to undertake such assessments. Furthermore, catch and effort data, especially for key commercial species, has been scarce and inadequate for use in fisheries stock assessments and management. The limited data and information may have implications for determining the total catch and value, which in turn affects the process of developing useful management decisions.