Abstract:
The developemnt of fisheries in Lake Victoria is faced with a myriad challenges
including overfishing, environmental destruction, disappearance of certain indigenous
species and pollution. All these problems can be located within the social, economic
and political systems that exists today and in the past. This thesis, ‘Fishers and Fish
Traders of Lake Victoria : Colonial Policy and the Development of Fish
Production in Kenya, 1880-1978’, argues that the Luo fishers had their own
indigenous techniques of fishing, modes of preservation and systems of management
that ensured sustainable utilisation of fisheries. The thesis examines the role of the
Luo fishers in the sustainable usage of the Lake Victoria fisheries.
The British colonial settlers came up with new policies of plantation and commercial
farming, taxation and forced labour, all of which encouraged the Luo fishers to
partially break with their pre-colonial systems and create new ways of responding to
the demands of the colonial state. The study argues that the coming of colonialism
and its attendant capitalism introduced new fishing gear as well as new species, such
as mbuta, that were inimical to the sustainable utilisation of the Lake Victoria
fisheries. The colonial regime also introduced new practices of fisheries management
such as scouts, licensing, closed seasons and the numbering of boats, practices geared
towards ensuring the commercial production and development of the fisheries. This
commercialisation led to cut-throat competition between Asian, European and
African fish traders. The coming of independence in 1963 brought some changes,
such as the provision of credit facilities, new technology, and attempts by the new
African government to more effectively control and manage the fisheries. However,
not much changed in terms of policy objectives, and most of the colonial policies
remained unchanged. New industries were established around the fisheries, but most
remained in the hands of Asians and a few African middlemen. The small-scale
fishers continued to struggle against the commercialisation of fishery production,
remaining voiceless and marginalised. The study recommends an all inclusive
participatory approach to solve the problems currently affecting the Lake Victoria
fisheries.
