DERICK
Illegal fishing gear worth 17 million shillings is to be destroyed at Rwenshama landing site on lake Edward in Bwambara sub-county Rukungiri district.
The Rukungiri district officials led by the chief administrative officer Hajji Masokonyi Waswa this week burnt illegal nets worth 4 million at Rweshama landing site as they look forward to burning more as operations continue
The illegal fishing gear includes spark nets which fishermen buy from the Democratic Republic of Congo and undersized nets
Masokoyi warned fishermen at Rweshama landing site who cross to The democratic republic of Congo to buy illegal fishing gear that if caught, they will be dealt with accordingly because the practice is affecting the fishing industry in Uganda
He asked the fisheries protection unit to play their role to ensure that bad fishing habits are eradicated at Rweshama landing site
The Rukungiri deputy resident district commissioner, Wilberforce Ahimbisibwe Ongom said there is an urgent need to sensitize fishermen on Rweshama landing site about the dangers of bad fishing habits.
He advises the fishermen to always buy the recommended nets if they want to benefit from fishing
Maj Steven Arituha the Fisheries protection unit commander at lake Edward says since 100 boats operating at Rweshama landing site have licenses, it will be easy to identify criminals who have continued to use illegal fishing gear because it was previously hard to identify the owner of the vessel numbers.
