Entebbe Grade One Magistrate Naomi Sikoya presided over the exercise. She ordered for the the destruction of the illegal fishing gears that weighed over 12,000 kilograms.
The Fisheries Protection Unit -FPU has impounded and
destroyed illegal fishing gears valued at shillings 447 million.
The
gears that included monofilament nets and hooks were destroyed at Bugonga landing
site, Entebbe Municipality on Monday.
Entebbe Grade One
Magistrate Naomi Sikoya presided over the exercise. She ordered for the the destruction of the illegal fishing
gears that weighed over 12,000 kilograms.
//Cue in:”The monofilaments, I…
Cue out:….seen the samples.”//
The FPU Commanding officer, Lt. Col Dick Kaija, said the illegal fishing
gears, weighing over ten tonnes were
impounded from Jinja, Mbale Nabugabo in Kampala, Entebbe and from fishermen sailing
on Lake Victoria.
He says the gears were impounded during operations done in
the last three months and the FPU applied to Entebbe Chief Magistrate’s Court
for the destruction of gears where court cases against suspects have been concluded
or the owners run away.
//Cue in:”Operations were conducted…
Cue out:…the owner is.”//
He however says the enforcement officers are arresting most of
the culprits who have stores or shops with illegal gears.
//Cue in:”But those ones…
Cue out:…CPS in Mbale.”//
The latest exercise comes two months after FPU destroyed
279,900 pieces of illegal fishing gears and immature fish which were impounded from more than 18 districts. The
districts included Kalangala, Apac, Kwania, Ntoroko, Buvuma, Jinja and Pakwach.
The destroyed fishing gears were impounded last year in October and November.
The FPU was created in 2017 on the orders of President Yoweri Museveni.
The President directed the deployment of Uganda Peoples Defense Forces - UPDF soldiers
on all the lakes in the country to combat illegal fishing practices to protect
the fish resources that were under threat of depletion.
As FPU conducts these operations, Parliament is still scrutinizing the Fisheries
and Aquaculture Bill, 2021. The Bill seeks to consolidate and reform the law
relating to the management of fisheries products and aquaculture due to several
challenges and emerging issues in the regulation and management of the sector
which are not addressed.
