Kenya Plans to Put Ten Million in Fisheries Sector

KENYA - In a new policy change aimed at boosting the fishing sector, the government plans to construct a fish port at Lamu, revamp aquaculture and fish farming centres across the country and expand the fisheries department.

“The government will invest in a fish port in Lamu to handle 500 vessels daily”, said Prime minister, Raila Odinga when he launched the policy in Mombasa. “Once complete, the port will greatly enhance the exploitation of Kenya’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) which is currently underexploited,” he said.

According to BusinessDailyAfrica, the Oceans and Fisheries Policy, which was approved by the Cabinet last year, is aimed at increasing production in the sector to 200,000 metric tonnes by 2014 from 7,000 metric tonnes.

The sector currently contributes about 0.5 per cent to the national economy earning the country about Sh8 billion annually, reports BusinessDailyAfrica.

Once the policy is implemented, the sector will directly and indirectly provide livelihood to more than 10 million Kenyans, the Minister for Fisheries, Paul Otuoma said.