Kenya Works with Israel, Germany for Fish Production

The partnership will develop strategies to ensure increased fish production from alternative sources, including underutilised water bodies such as Lake Turkana, reports TheStandard.

Fisheries Permanent Secretary, Japhet Ntiba said the partnership was also aimed at improving Tilapia aquaculture in the country to increase the value of tilapia and create more job opportunities.

Speaking at a workshop in Kisumu on Tilapia Value Chains, which was attended by experts from Israel and Germany, Mr Ntiba said lakes such as Victoria have been over-exploited and identifying alternative water bodies was the way out.

Mr Ntiba said the three countries were assessing whether they could engage in deep-sea fishing in the Indian Ocean, utilise lakes in remote areas like Lake Turkana and the promote aquaculture. Lake Turkana alone could give about two million metric tons of fish a year, but this has not been so because the water body has been abandoned because it lies far away from developed areas of the country.

He said plans were underway to construct fish mini-processing plants and storage facilities in all the counties to promote fish production. Each county would have fishponds.

The Ministry has already identified sites in Rongo, Migori County, Murambi in Kakamega, Tetu in Nyeri and South Imenti in Meru County where fish farmers have been trained on hygienic ways of handling fish.