Minister of State for Fisheries Fred Mukisa of Uganda
Kampala State minister for fisheries Fred Mukisa has promised to resign if investigations prove that he is dealing in immature fish.
Mukisa says the industry was in shambles, with the worst forms of illegal fishing taking place in eastern districts of Bugiri, Jinja, Mayuge and Busia.
Citing the successful fight against fish poisoning in the mid 1990s, Mukisa said his dream was achievable, but inadequate funding was his biggest challenge.
Mukisa said strengthening beach management units and coordination with the private sector to pacify the fishing industry would also be undertaken.
Mukisa said that some fish processing factories have resorted to handling 18 inch size fish instead of the recommended 20 inch fish.
Mukisa said no person would be licensed to engage in fishing activities unless he or she possesses the right fishing gear and is a member of a given landing site, has a valid identification card and is willing to submit his fish catch record to the district fisheries.
Godfrey Bahiigwa, the director of the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA), Mukisa said the Bill, if passed, would also establish a National Food and Nutrition Council to guarantee the protection of the right to food.
Mukisa said trice gaining more importance in staple diets in east and central Africa and the annual per capita consumption had reached 15kg.
Mr Mukisa is irritated, and rightly so, by a paltry Shs2 billion budget despite the sub-sector being the second highest income source to the government.
Note that the spirit of decentralised fisheries management as espoused in the 2004 Fisheries Policy was borne out of the sheer failure of the centre to manage fisheries resources as livelihood assets for the rural poor.
Decades of central control over fisheries resources, which Mr Mukisa is seeking to reintroduce, ignominiously failed to arrest fisheries resource degradation.
Minister Fred Mukisa says parents and guardians must ensure their children receive proper nutritional care because food security begins with the family.
State Minister for Fisheries Fred Mukisa said the new policy is being crafted to compel entrepreneurs engaged in fish processing to invest in fish farming, especially of Nile Perch as a pre-condition to obtaining trading/export license.
Mukisa said there was no set price for fish, adding that the factories do not issue delivery notes for transactions made.
Citing the Jinja-based Marine and Agro Limited, Mukisa said some suppliers had not been paid for the last three months yet the firm was about to close.
BUGIRI State minister for fisheries Fred Mukisa has pledged to advocate for a technical school at Wakawaka beach on L.
Addressing LC3 leaders at Nankoma sub-county headquarters on Tuesday, Mukisa said the school would help the people acquire skills to supplement their income.
State minister Fred Mukisa says this has been done to salvage the fluctuating cotton prices.
Mukisa was speaking at a workshop organised by the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute in Jinja last week.
We want to come up with laws that will reduce pollution so that the future generation also benefits, Mukisa said during celebrations to mark the World Fisheries Day at Pearl Gardens Beach in Kalangala, recently.
Fisheries state minister, Fred Mukisa says that once the fish folk understand the benefits that the LPA will bring to them, they will welcome the initiative.
Mukisa says that the establishment of the protected area is a concrete and meaningful step in the long term management of the wild fishery on Lake Victoria which is a national asset.
State minister Fred Mukisa says this has been done to salvage the fluctuating cotton prices that have affected farmers.
State minister Fred Mukisa said the move was aimed at increasing fish stocks.