According to a news report from the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Fisheries Development Permanent Secretary (PS) Prof. Japhet Micheni has said that aquaculture is expected to grow in importance as supplies from traditional sources such as rivers, lakes and oceans dwindle due to over exploitation, climatic, environmental changes.
Prof. Micheni, who spoke when he opened an aquaculture stakeholders' workshop warned that the world should expect acute shortages by 2050 unless urgent measures to redress the challenges facing the fisheries sector around the world are addressed. He announced that his Ministry was about to seal a $50 million deal with the Arab Development Bank that will facilitate fisheries development along the Coast, saying that the country had not fully exploited her marine resources.
Prof. Micheni said although the number of private fish farmers had grown from 22 in 1955 to the current 7,000, the growth was unsatisfactory considering the potential that is unexploited and in the face of the dwindling supplies in the markets due to overexploitation. The PS while noting that foreigners were exploiting the resources due to lack of capacity among the citizens, said that Kenyans must address the causes of decline in water resources in tandem with the destruction of forests.
He added that his Ministry is in the process of creating a Directorate of Aquaculture to propagate fish farming, considered key in ensuring self-sufficiency and poverty eradication programs for the Vision 2030.
Kenya Foresees Rapid Aquaculture Advancement
KENYA - Kenya expects an increase in from fish farming from four metric tonnes to about 25 metric tonnes in the next five years as aquaculture plays a central role in fish production.
