The Social and Economic Dimensions of Destructive Fishing Activities in the South coast of Kenya.

Abstract

The social and economic dimensions of destructive fishing activities were studied in the multi-gear fishery of the southern Kenya coast. The objectives were to determine causes and effects of destructive fishing activities, the extent of occurrence of these activities, the social and economic factors that explain the continued existence of destructive fishing techniques, and the measures to deter the destructive fishing practices in the area. Fishing gears identified to be destructive in order of abundance were beach seines which are used by 29% of the respondents, spearguns which are used by 32%, ringnets which are used by 5%, small mesh size nets used by 3%, small mesh size basket traps used by 1%, explosives and fishing poison especially traditional plant poison. It was found out that 70% of the respondents use destructive fishing methods. 49% of those who use destructive fishing techniques were the migrant fishermen. In terms of age characteristics, 48% of those who use destructive fishing techniques are aged 18-35 years, 17% are aged 36-53 years and 5% are aged 54-71 years. Major driving forces for the use of destructive fishing methods are; perceived efficiency of destructive gears, availability of cheap but destructive gears in the market, the influence of migrant fishermen and their “I don‟t care” attitude, age of a fisherman with destructive gears being dominated by younger fishermen, declining catches and desperation among the fishermen, passive acceptance of some destructive gears at localized levels and low levels of education among the fishermen. Some of the destructive gears lead to excessive bycatch and juvenile wastage thus threatening sustainability. In addition, dynamite fishing causes serious damage to coral reef habitat with long term impacts. This study therefore proposes the need to strengthen enforcement of existing regulations and empowerment of local communities to effectively participate in the management of fisheries to boost compliance. The study also proposes the need to tackle the supply of destructive fishing gears at their sources and the sale of these gears should be banned in the Kenyan market.