By Steven Enatu
SOROTI CITY
Silver fish (Mukene) traders in Soroti have decried financial constraints in providing for their families while growing their micro scale businesses.
The traders majority being women who have dealt in this business for over 5 years attribute the financial constraints to the scarcity and hiked price of silverfish due to government’s recent ban on the use of the ‘hurry-up’ fishing method that was commonly used and favorable for harvesting silverfish across many lakes in Uganda according to the fishing communities.
The method according to the ministry of fisheries uses cast nets (tupa tupa), seine nets, and hurry-ups and was banned because of its destructive characteristics.
Jennifer Icumar is the chairperson of women dealing in silverfish business in Soroti main market, according to her they are apparently making losses as the little proceeds they are getting go into paying daily market dues.
Since the scarcity of silver fish and price hike, the traders say they are no longer making profit.
“We buy a basin at 130,000shs, we sale a Nomi at 10,000sh you may realize only 1000 shilling as a profit that we use for paying market dues. Previously we used to buy silver fish from Jinja between 60,000 to 65,000 a basin and we would sell a Nomi at 7000 shs or 6000 and you get a profit of like 10000shs. This would allow us to also make meaningful business and be able to pay school fees and provide family needs. Since the ban on the fishing method for silverfish, we no longer get silver fish from Jinja, we come here with like four Nomis of silver fish and the stock turnover is slow. I can no longer pay school fees for my children, Government should come to our rescue, if we all go on the street for prostitution it’s not good,” Icumar stated.
Mary Akello is a single mother; she has been in the silver fish business as a wholesaler for 13 years. She says the closure of Hurry Up fishing method has greatly affected the availability of silver fish with little coming from Bugondo, Kagwara in Serere, Tanzania and Kenya. This has negatively impacted there would be lucrative venture and source of livelihood.
“A basin is now 130k that we used to buy at 70k or 80k. Now a nomi is 15k. Government should know that silver fish is what the community relies on as diet. We appeal to government especially minister of fisheries to be mindful of us, some of us are single mothers who entirely depend on this business. This other method they have introduced does not harvest silver fish, even a pen can pass through it because it has large holes,” she explained.
Josephine Aguti is another trader dealing in silver fish. She said, “God gave us the lake and silver fish for free that we would use to change our lives, we have loans and school fees are demanding. Some of us it’s through this business that we are surviving even at household level. We are renting, how shall we survive if we continue in this situation,” she painfully stressed.
She appealed to government to restrict regulations in the lake and allow fishing activities of silver fish as it has been.
Aguti noted that current financial hardship brought by the scarcity of silver fish led to the death of one of their colleagues recently who died by suicide due to accumulated loans.
Stella Akello is another trader, she said a nomi now goes at 15,000shs, 12,000, 7000, 6000, 5000, 3000, 2000 and 1000 depending on the size of container for measurement. This she said started in February this year. “Previously we used to sell a big nomi at 8000shs.This has affected the number of customers we have lately,” she noted.
The condemned hurry-up method according to ministry of fisheries catches large quantities of untargeted fish, especially juvenile Nile perch, a matter that threatens the sustainability of fish stocks in the water bodies.
The Fish (Fishing Rules) of 2010, currently in force, prohibit the use of seine nets and nets whose mesh sizes are below those specified sizes. The same rules also ban fishing for silverfish in water less than 2km from the shoreline.
Enforcement
There have also been reports of increased enforcement activities against fishers by the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) in the name of enforcing the ban on silverfish.
In some places, the FPU has imposed a total ban on silverfish fishing.
